Dodgers' Offense Looking for Solutions After a Rookie Put Them on the Ropes

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES - On the finish of the seventh inning Wednesday night time, the Dodger Stadium videoboard implored a crowd of 52,175 followers to get loud. The request was futile. An offense that has appeared asleep since Monday’s late-night marathon, a bullpen that evokes dread and a Blue Jays rookie rising to heights beforehand unseen had already ripped out their hearts and crushed their souls.

And now, after 22-year-old Trey Yesavage shut down the Dodgers’ star-laden lineup with a World Collection rookie report 12 strikeouts over seven innings of a 6-1 win in Sport 5, the reigning champions out of the blue head again to Toronto on the point of elimination.

Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers struggled on the plate within the final two video games. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions by way of Getty Photos)

"It’s time for us, for the offense, to point out up," mentioned Kiké Hernández.

That has develop into an all-too-common chorus this postseason for a lineup teeming with All-Stars and MVPs.

The Dodgers entered Sport 5 hitting .214 as a crew within the World Collection. They had been coming off a two-run effort and had averaged fewer than 4 runs per sport because the begin of the division sequence.

Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts resisted the temptation to maneuver Mookie Betts down within the order in the course of the common season, even on the lowest factors of his worst offensive 12 months as a giant leaguer. However the crew’s funk had gotten to the purpose that Roberts and the Dodgers determined it was time to shuffle issues up.

Blue Jays 1 WIN AWAY 🚨 Yesavage's Historic WORLD SERIES Sport 5 😤 Dodgers' Stoop, A-Rod, Papi & Jeter "Within the postseason," Roberts mentioned, "you’ve bought to be just a little bit extra reactive."

So he moved Will Smith as much as the No. 2 spot within the lineup in Sport 5, bumping Betts — who’s hitting .132 because the begin of the championship sequence — and Freddie Freeman down, flipping Tommy Edman and Max Muncy within the order and eradicating the struggling Andy Pages in favor of Alex Name.

It didn't make a distinction.

The Dodgers, who've now scored simply 4 runs over their final 29 innings, responded with one run on 4 hits and had been left nonetheless trying to find solutions. They had been unable to resolve a pitcher in Yesavage who was taking part in at East Carolina College only a 12 months in the past and entered the postseason with three profession regular-season begins to his title.

Shohei Ohtani, Betts and Freeman mixed to go hitless on the night time.

"I don’t wish to communicate on anyone else, however for myself, I’ve simply been horrible," Betts mentioned. "I want it had been from lack of effort, however it’s not. I imply, that’s all I can say."

Mookie Betts and the Dodgers now must win two video games in Toronto. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions by way of Getty Photos)

Earlier than the season started, Max Fried signed a $218 million cope with the Yankees, whereas Blake Snell inked a $182 million contract with the Dodgers. They had been among the many two most highly-coveted choices in the marketplace.

Yesavage, a 2024 first-round choose who was not even in Toronto’s big-league camp throughout spring coaching, has outdueled each of these aces within the stress cooker of MLB’s postseason.

In Sport 2 of the ALDS, in Yesavage’s first ever playoff sport and simply his fourth ever big-league look, he outmatched Fried whereas hanging out 11 batters in 5.1 scoreless, hitless innings in opposition to the Yankees.

In Sport 6 of the ALCS, an elimination sport for the Blue Jays, Yesavage outlasted Mariners standout Logan Gilbert whereas surrendering simply two runs in 5.2 innings to maintain Toronto’s season alive.

And in two World Collection matchups in opposition to Snell, Yesavage outshined the two-time Cy Younger Award winner each instances.

"This playoff paycheck goes to be good each time it hits," mentioned Yesavage, who was nonetheless pitching in Single-A as not too long ago as June.

In Sport 5 in opposition to the Dodgers, Yesavage bought a mixed 42 whiffs and known as strikes. At one level, he struck out 5 straight batters. Later within the night time, he grew to become the primary pitcher since Sandy Koufax in 1963 to strike out at the very least 10 over the primary 5 innings of a World Collection sport.

"It was only a full 180 from Sport 1," Freeman mentioned. "His command was pinpoint tonight."

It didn’t damage that Yesavage was pitching with a 2-0 lead two batters into the sport.

The Blue Jays have performed only one extra sport than the Dodgers this postseason, but they’ve scored 36 extra runs. They are a relentless offensive drive due largely to their capacity to string collectively hits and put the ball in play, however they’re not a one-dimensional assault; they’ve additionally hit extra homers than any crew this postseason, together with six greater than the Dodgers.

And in Sport 5, that energy was on show from the beginning.

Leadoff hitter Davis Schneider was sitting on a first-pitch fastball and bought one from Snell, homering on the primary pitch of the night time. Two pitches later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his extraordinary October when he pulled one other inside fastball for his franchise-record eighth house run of the postseason.

Three pitches, two homers, one surprised stadium.

"You clearly see these guys discovering methods to get hits, transfer the baseball ahead," Roberts mentioned, "and we're not doing job of it."

Snell gave the Dodgers an opportunity to claw again, regrouping after these two early homers to permit only one extra run over his subsequent 5 innings.

The offense, nevertheless, supplied little resistance to Yesavage’s assault.

"Hitting creates vitality," Hernández mentioned, "and we weren’t getting hits."

Kiké Hernández's solo house run was all of the offense the Dodgers mustered. (Photograph by Ronald Martinez/Getty Photos)

Hernández was liable for the one run the Dodgers mustered on the night time. Their plan was to get Yesavage up within the zone, and when Hernández lastly bought an elevated fastball within the third inning, he didn’t miss, blasting a 407-foot house run that served solely as a quick jolt.

"I believe clearly the lane with him is up," Hernández advised me, "however his launch is admittedly excessive and the slider just under the zone, out of the hand it seems to be like a pitch up within the zone, and it simply dies. His slider was so much higher, in my view tonight, than it was in Toronto, and it appeared like we weren’t actually capable of alter to it."

As Freeman alluded to, the Dodgers confronted a unique model of Yesavage than the one they noticed in Sport 1, when the rookie surrendered simply two runs over 4 innings regardless of an absence of command along with his secondary choices.

In Sport 5, Yesavage’s slider and splitter had been untouchable. The 2 pitches alone accounted for 21 swings and misses and completed off every of his 12 strikeouts.

"Clearly, the strategy is to attempt to get him up, however he didn’t hardly throw something up within the zone," mentioned Max Muncy. "He simply stored the ball down. He was throwing strikes. It’s powerful to battle in opposition to that."

The Dodgers’ goal bought even more durable within the seventh.

On the time, the sport was nonetheless inside attain. Snell was at 110 pitches with one out within the inning when he walked the nine-hole hitter to place two runners on with Schneider due up for the fourth time. Roberts, hesitant to go to his unreliable bullpen, left Snell in. The transfer was prudent, as Snell battled for the strikeout.

Sadly for Roberts, Snell’s pitch rely was at 116.

"It’s laborious as a result of you possibly can solely push a starter a lot," Roberts mentioned. "I assumed Blake emptied the tank."

ROOKIE MAKES WORLD SERIES HISTORY😤 Trey Yesavage on 12 strikeout efficiency vs. Dodgers in Sport 5 So in got here Edgardo Henriquez, who instantly let each inherited runners rating and every of the three batters he confronted to achieve. All of a sudden, the Dodgers’ deficit was 4, with Yesavage nonetheless on the mound.

The 22-year-old completed his seventh and last body with an inning-ending double play, then retreated to the dugout the place a bear hug awaited from Guerrero.

"It looks like at-bats are snowballing on us proper now," Hernández mentioned. "We’re getting pitches to hit, we’re lacking them, and we’re increasing the zone with two strikes. I believe the perfect factor that may occur for us is a time off. Get a day to regroup and determine it out. As a bunch, it’s time for us to point out our character and put up a battle and see what occurs."

Final 12 months’s Dodgers demonstrated that resolve within the 2024 NLDS, once they gained two elimination video games in San Diego to maneuver on and finally seize a World Collection championship.

Now, because the sequence shifts again to Toronto, the Dodgers should do this once more on the street in the event that they wish to defend their title and develop into the primary crew to win back-to-back championships in 25 years.

"I believe there's extra in there," Roberts mentioned. "I do know there's extra in there."

World Collection Sport 6 Preview: Dodgers on the Brink vs. Blue Jays 👀 Large Papi, A-Rod & Jeter Weigh In If that’s not motivation sufficient, maybe the scene after their Sport 5 loss will function extra.

Within the aftermath of defeat, Clayton Kershaw become a black sweatsuit, departed the house clubhouse, walked down the hallway, embraced a big contingent of household and associates, then sauntered again out to the Dodger Stadium subject, absorbing the chance one final time.

It was Kershaw’s last house sport in his 18-year profession.

The Dodgers want two straight wins to ship him out with one last ring.

"We’ve been on this scenario earlier than, in opposition to the Padres," Freeman mentioned. "And we will do it once more."

Rowan Kavner is an MLB author for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand coated the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved again to the West Coast in 2014. Comply with him on X at @RowanKavner.