Before game 5 of the World Series the Dodgers tried to change things up to ignite a stagnant offense. They moved Will Smith to the second spot hitting behind Shohei Ohtani, dropped Mookie Betts down to the third spot and replaced Andy Pages with Alex Call. Enrique Hernandez moved over to center field with Call starting in left. It didn’t work. It’s like shuffling a deck of cards. The anemic Dodger offense managed just one run on four hits as they lost game 5 to the Blue Jays 6-1 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. The only run of the game was Kike’s solo home run in the bottom of the third. Otherwise they mustered only three singles the rest of the game.
Toronto starter Trey Yesavage turned in an incredible performance. The rookie struck out 12 over seven dominant innings, limiting the Dodgers to just the lone run. The game was pretty much over after the first five minutes when the Blue Jays’ first two hitters of the game hit solo home runs against Dodger’s starting pitcher Blake Snell. Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both took Snell deep to open the game in the top of the first inning. The Dodgers needed Snell to be almost perfect with the bats going silent, and he wasn’t. I knew the game was over immediately.
Things only got worse though as the game progressed into the later innings. While Snell wasn’t great, he had held the Blue Jays to just three runs as they entered the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead. The third run scored when Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a Daulton Varsho flare into shallow right, allowing Varsho to reach third. I didn’t understand the play. Teo had no chance to catch the ball, but decided to try and slide for the catch, instead of just keeping the ball in front of him and holding Varsho to a single. Ernie Clement’s sacrifice fly scored him and put Toronto up 3-1.
MR. OCTOBER. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/lEnUDDuSfL
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 30, 2025
The seventh inning was confusing and frustrating. With Snell’s tank running on empty, Addison Barger singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a ground out, there was a walk to Kiner-Falefa. A second wild pitch sent Barger to third. You would think the Dodgers best chance to get out of this inning would have been to use their best reliever Roki Sasaki in this situation. Instead Dave Roberts treated this like it was a regular season game in July bringing in Engardo Henriquez, and later in the frame Anthony Banda. The results were not unsurprising. Bichette’s two-run single put the game out of reach. I don’t know what Roberts sees in those guys this year. What was he saving Sasaki for, the winter?
Toronto added one more run in the eighth inning. Closer Jeff Hoffman pitched the bottom of the ninth to finish the game. Toronto now has a 3-2 lead, putting them just one win away from their first championship since 1993. I think the Dodgers just ran out of gas after that 18-inning game on Monday. Now the Dodgers have to win both games in Canada in order to repeat as champions. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound in game 6 on Halloween night, while Toronto will send Kevin Gausman to the mound. The Dodgers will need Yamamoto to be nearly flawless if they want to win the World Series. If they force a game 7, Tyler Glasnow will get the ball backed up by the entire pitching staff. We can only hope Halloween will not be a night of horrors for the Dodgers.
Superstars going cold.
3 wild pitches leading to a run.
It rhymes with fuck. Bad fuck.
True, some bad luck mixed in. Also the at-bats don’t look good. Very passive, non-aggressive.
Not sure i see a lack of aggression. Maybe too much aggression? I dunno.
Just bad at-bats.