The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 in Game 5 of the World Series, to take a 3-2 series lead back to Toronto. Amazingly, the Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage entered the history books, setting two marks. Not only did he have the most strikeouts by a pitcher in a World Series game, he also induced the most swing and misses for a strikeout in the World Series, according to Cary Osborne of Dodgers Insider.
The game got off to a fast start when Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit back-to-back home runs to give the Jays the early lead. Ultimately, this gave Yesavage the confidence he needed to take the mound with poise. Even when Kike Hernandez blasted a home run to get the Dodgers on the board, it was enough to faze Yesavage.
Yesavage went seven full innings while allowing just one earned run and three hits, while striking out 12 and not walking a single batter. As noted, his 12 strikeouts are the most in a World Series game without issuing a walk. Remarkably, he also got the Diodgers to swing and miss 24 times, which was the most by a pitcher in a World Series game since the 2008 season, when the Pitch Tracking Era began.
Some of the Dodgers' hitters he got to swing and miss included Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith (two strikeouts), Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Tommy Edman. In fact, Yesavage was on his game so early that he got Freeman, Hernandez, and Edman all to strike out swinging in the second inning.
When he allowed the home run to Hernandez, there was one out in the third inning. Yesavage could have crumbled. Instead, he recovered, getting Alex Call to line out. Then, he struck out Ohtani swinging. Yesavage adjusted when he faced Hernandez again, going to the outside after the home run was on an inside pitch. The final result? Yesavage struck out Hernandez swinging. It was an outstanding performance from Yesavage, and he has now put the Blue Jays one win away from winning their third championship in franchise history.
