Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell.
Game 5 thoughts:
—Magic Johnson, part owner of the Dodgers and perhaps the greatest Lakers player of all time, sent out a very important tweet before the game: “With the Series being 2-2, Game 5 is very important. Whichever team wins takes control of the Series!”
—That’s the type of insight you can only get from someone who has been there.
—Magic also threw out the first pitch before the game. Apparently, Kurt Rambis and Norm Nixon were unavailable.
—But really, Magic throws out the first pitch? All the great Dodgers in history who are still around, and you pick the Lakers star?
First inning
—So what’s going to happen tonight? Will Blake Snell be locked in? Will the offense show up?
—Some lineup changes, Mookie Betts drops to third and Will Smith moves to second. Andy Pages hits the bench and Alex Call starts and bats ninth.
—This is not the start the Dodgers were looking for.
—We don’t know if Snell has his good stuff yet because we haven’t seen any of his pitches. Just home runs.
—That’s a great way to take the crowd out of the game.
—And, as usual, the Dodgers go down quietly.
Second inning
—Trey Yesavage looks like a much better pitcher than he did in Game 1. He strikes out the side as the Dodgers continue to just swing at everything.
—What happened to the patience? They know it works, because they talk about it.
Third inning
—A rare misplay from Mookie Betts at short. He seemed to be in too big a hurry to throw the ball. It happens.
—The problem with this Blue Jays team is there’s no one on it to dislike, other than George Springer. And he’s not playing. They have a bunch of baseball players and no giant superstar.
—This is Trey Yesavage’s season:
April 8: First career start in single A
May 20: First high-A start
June 12: First double-A start
Aug. 14: First triple-A start
Sept. 15: First start in the majors
Oct. 5: First postseason start
Oct. 13: First ALCS start
Oct. 24: First World Series start
Oct. 29: Second World Series start
—Super Kiké has finally arrived. But can the Dodgers eventually hit a home run with runners on base?
—Major league players voted Kyle Schwarber the NL player of the year. That’s a surprise.
—This game won’t end 2-1.
Fourth inning
—Another terrible defensive play by Teoscar Hernández. He has been brutal in the field this year.
—And really, despite the rules of scoring a game, he should be given an error on that play. It should be a single and two-base error.
—And the Blue Jays immediately cash it in.
—Remember last season, when some Dodgers were bragging afterward that they knew they could take advantage of a sloppy Yankees team, which was poor on fundamentals on defense? That has been the Dodgers for much of this season. Poor at the basics and defense. What goes around, comes around.
—Quick everyone! Gather around the TV! It’s the in-game manager interview!
—Tommy Edman ends the inning. Whatever happened to Tommy Tanks?
Fifth inning
—Mary Hart got a foul ball after it bounced off her husband!
—The Dodgers have turned into strikeout machines.
—Once again, Shohei Ohtani will lead off an inning. No one on base. The switch to Call has not paid off.
Sixth inning
—I believe that Liberty Mutual seagulls commercial was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
—Snell really settled down after that first inning. The third run wasn’t his fault. The Blue Jays are making him work, but he’s not giving in.
—Moving Smith to the two spot hasn’t really paid off. Better to move Freeman to the two spot.
—Eleven strikeouts for Yesavage.
Seventh inning
—You know, the Dodgers have never won a World Series when Game 3 went 18 innings.
—Edgardo Henriquez comes in during a tough spot. This is where not having Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and the real Blake Treinen hurts.
—Blue Jays score a run on a single and three wild pitches (one was initially called a passed ball, but it was really a wild pitch). What was that about the Yankees not being fundamentally sound again?
—And the wheels come off again. It’s now 5-1. And with this Dodger offense, there’s no coming back.
—Why do we blame the Dodger offense for being bad and not give credit to the Blue Jays’ pitching? After all, when Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches a gem, we give him the credit and we don’t say the other team’s offense is weak. Human nature, I guess. Seeing everything through the lens of the team you root for.
—I’m not sure why they go to Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal for their comments during the game. They don’t say anything we don’t already know and … the game is still going on!
—And an inning-ending double play. Masterful game from Yesavage.
Eighth inning
—No game tomorrow. The Dodger offense will take batting practice and go 2 for 27 with 10 strikeouts.
—Another wild pitch. Will Smith caught all 18 innings in Game 3, and he looks like he’s moving slow back there. The Blue Jays’ main catcher, Alejandro Kirk, did not catch all 18 innings.
—The Dodgers have one of the oldest rosters in the league. The average age of their position players this season was 30.7 years old. That was the oldest in the majors. And they are playing like how I feel after spending a day at Disneyland.
—It’s funny, because my inbox is filling up with emails from people saying this team is an embarrassment or a disgrace. Really? The series isn’t over. The Dodgers won the World Series last year. If this team is an embarrassment or a disgrace to you, then you should move on with your life and find another sport to watch, because baseball isn’t for you.
Ninth inning
—Blake Treinen is in the game! It’s 6-1, so he’ll probably pitch a perfect inning.
—And he did.
—It looks like Mary Hart gave up on the game. She took her foul ball and went home.
—On the telecast, John Smoltz wondered what the team batting average was for teams who went into a World Series after sweeping an LCS when the other team went the full seven games. Well, if he read this newsletter, he would know! We covered that in the preview! Come on John, subscribe!
—And that’s that. The Dodgers made 27 outs, 46 of them by strikeout.
—Game 6 is Friday. Joe Davis and Smoltz seemed very confident about Yamamoto, but everyone was very confident about Snell coming into this series and the Dodgers lost both of those games.
—Last two games combined took less time than Game 3.
—My prediction remains, like I’ve said all along, Dodgers in seven.
—More important, we wish Alex Vesia and his wife the best as they go through a trying time.
World Series stats
Batting
Dodgers
Teoscar Hernández, .318/.375/.455, 7 for 22, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .316/.500/.895, 6 for 19, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 5 RBIs, 7 walks, 5 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .250/.400/.450, 5 for 20, 1 double, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 4 walks, 4 K’s
Will Smith, .238/.333/.381, 5 for 21, 1 homer, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 6 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .211/.200/.368, 4 for 10, 1 homer, 3 RBIs, 10 K’s
Max Muncy, .150/.261/.350, 3 for 20, 1 double, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 3 walks, 8 K’s
Alex Call, .143/.250/.143, 1 for 7, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Tommy Edman, .143/.217/.190, 3 for 21, 1 double, 1 RBI, 2 walks, 6 K’s
Mookie Betts, .130/.231/.130, 3 walks, 5 K’s
Andy Pages,.067/.067/.067, 1 for 15, 2 K’s
Miguel Rojas, 0 for 2
Team, .201/.296/.354, 5 doubles, 8 homers, 24 walks, 55 K’s, 3.6 runs per game.
Justin Dean, Hyeseong Kim and Ben Rortvedt have not batted during the series.
Blue Jays
Addison Barger, .471/.500/.647, 8 for 17, 1 homer, 5 RBIs, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., .364/.500/.636, 8 for 22, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 6 walks, 2 K’s
Alejandro Kirk, .333/.458/.667, 6 for 18, 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 5 walks, 4 K’s
Ernie Clement, .318/.304/.364, 7 for 22, 1 double, 2 RBIs, 2 K’s
Bo Bichette, .313/.389/.313, 5 for 16, 3 RBIs, 2 walks, 2 K’s
George Springer, .273/.333/.364, 3 for 11, 1 double, 3 K’s
Ty France, .250/.250/.250, 1 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Nathan Lukes, .250/.333/.313, 4 for 16, 1 double, 1 RBI, 2 walks. 3 K’s
Daulton Varsho, .227/.346/.455, 1 triple, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 4 K’s
Davis Schnedier, .222/.300/.556, 2 for 9, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Andrés Giménez, .158/.261/.158, 3 for 19, 3 RBIs, 2 walks, 9 K’s
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, .063/.118/.063, 1 for 16, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Tyler Heineman, 0 for 3, 1 K
Myles Straw, 0 for 8, 3 K’s
Team, .261/.341/.389, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 7 homers, 22 walks, 44 K’s, 5.8 runs per game
Pitching
Dodgers
Will Klein, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 5 K’s
Justin Wrobleski, 0.00 ERA, 2.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Edgardo Henriquez, 0.00 ERA, 2 IP, i hit, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Roki Sasaki, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks
Clayton Kershaw, 0.00 ERA, 0.1 IP
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-0. 1.00 ERA, 9 IP, 4 hits, 8 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 3.86 ERA, 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 K’s
Blake Treinen, 5.40 ERA, 1.2 IP, 5 hits
Shohei Ohtani, 0-1, 6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 6 hits, 1 walk, 6 K’s
Blake Snell, 0-2, 7.71 ERA, 11.2 IP, 14 hits, 7 walks, 11 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 5 hits, 3 walks, 2 K’s
Anthony Banda, 18.00 ERA, 3 IP, 6 hits, 1 walk
Team, 2-3, 4.58 ERA, 53 IP, 53 hits, 22 walks, 44 K’s
Blue Jays
Eric Lauer, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP, 2 hits, 5 walks, 3 K’s
Chris Bassitt, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 K’s
Jeff Hoffman, 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 walk, 4 K’s
Shane Bieber, 1-0, 1.69 ERA, 5.1 IP. 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Trey Yesavange, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 11 IP, 7 hits, 3 walks, 17 K’s
Seranthony Dominguez, 1-0, 2.70 ERA, 3.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Kevin Gausman, 0-1, 4.05 ERA, 6.2 IP. 4 hits, 6 K’s
Mason Fluharty, 5.40 ERA, 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 K’s
Braydon Fisher, 5.40 ERA, 3.1 IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, 4 K’s
Max Scherzer, 6.23 ERA, 4.1 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Louis Varland, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 K’s
Brendon Little, 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 K
Team, 3-2, 3.06 ERA, 53 IP, 38 hits, 24 walks, 55 K’s
In case you missed it
Plaschke: Disappearing Dodgers backed to the brink of disaster after World Series Game 5 loss
Dodgers’ offensive woes send them into a World Series tailspin with Game 5 loss
World Series Game 5: Dodgers fall, on brink of losing the World Series | Dodgers Debate
Freddie Freeman on the Dodgers’ World Series Game 5 loss
Hernández: Why Shohei Ohtani’s Game 4 failure will drive him to pitch again in this World Series
And finally
A palate cleanser from Game 5. One year ago today, the Dodgers win the World Series. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
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