He’s only been in the majors for a little over a month but rookie starting pitcher Trey Yesavage has made quite a name for himself after a historic Game 5 performance to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers to take a commanding 3-2 series lead in the World Series.
The former first round pick in the 2024 MLB draft had a masterful outing, finishing with 12 strikeouts, which broke Don Newcombe’s rookie record for the most in a World Series start, set in 1949.
Yesavage’s dominance didn’t stop there as he struck out five straight Dodgers batters at one point, which was the most consecutive by a rookie in World Series history.
The 22-year-old, out of East Carolina University, started the season in the lowest level of the minor leagues — single A and worked his way up through the farm system before making his MLB debut in September.
Yesavage’s only mistake came in the third inning with Enrique “Kike” Hernández taking him deep to get the Dodgers on the board.
Yesavage only allowed three hits and issued no walks in the win.
Yesavage called it a “crazy world” when asked to reflect on his journey from the minors to the majors in a short amount of time.
“Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good. So just being a part of this, I’m just very blessed,” Yesavage told reporters after the game.
He added he has not yet had a chance to fully enjoy the “whole process.”
“I’m waiting for life to slow down in this off-season and just be able to collect my thoughts and my feelings on this crazy year,” Yesavage said.
While Jays manager John Schneider jokingly called Yesavage’s start “pretty good,” it was Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who heaped full praise on the rookie’s performance.
“A lot of poise. I don’t have to, you know, know anything about him, he’s an athlete, fields his position well, has good baseball IQ, holding runners,” Roberts said.
“There’s no panic. As you said, there’s a lot of poise. And you got to tip your cap to him. Game 1, Game 5 on the road and the way he performed, pretty impressive.”
The Blue Jays’ offense played just as vital of a role in the victory.
As fans were settling into their seats to watch Game 5 on a beautiful Wednesday evening at Dodger Stadium, all it took was one pitch.
The Blue Jays got the scoring started early and fast after outfielder Davis Schneider took Dodgers starter Blake Snell deep in the first inning.
And it did not stop there.
The very next at-bat, slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added to the score with a solo shot of his own to give Toronto a 2-0 lead, leaving LA fans stunned in the process.
It was the first time in World Series history that a team hit back-to-back leadoff home runs.
Ernie Clement added Toronto’s third run on a sacrifice fly, scoring Daulton Varsho in the fourth.
Just as the two-time Cy Young award winner Snell appeared to settled into the game despite a rising pitch count, the seventh inning is when things collapsed.
The 32-year-old was pulled after 116 pitches and allowing two baserunners. Reliever Edgardo Henriquez allowed two runs on a wild pitch and a Bo Bichette single to solidify the Toronto lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a RBI single.
Jays closing pitcher Jeff Hoffman came in to close things out in the ninth inning as the Fall Classic now shifts to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday with the team one win away from their first title in 32 years.
Dodgers are expected to start Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is coming off a masterful Game 2 outing. Toronto is scheduled to trot out Kevin Gausman.
