LOS ANGELES — The World Series will be on the line Friday night in Toronto, and whether the Blue Jays are one win away or fighting to save their season, it all falls on Kevin Gausman.
Who would the Blue Jays rather have on the mound for their biggest game since 1993? Gausman is this organizationâ€s ace and each start heâ€s made this postseason has been his most important in this uniform, which heâ€s worn for four seasons now.
The shift back to Rogers Centre will be welcomed. The Blue Jays played to a 54-27 record at home this season, and even while they have been on the road in L.A. at Dodger Stadium, their home in Toronto has been packed for viewing parties. Home-field advantages can be difficult to measure, but the Blue Jays†is real.
“Rogers Centre is going to be fun. It’s going to be electric,†Gausman said. “It’s going to be everything that it has been for the last month and probably more. We’re excited to get back there. Obviously, we’re really good at home, so we feel confident playing in front of our own team. The fans there have been awesome, especially lately. They bring the energy, they pick us up when we need it.â€
In Gausmanâ€s first career World Series appearance in Game 2, he held the Dodgers to three runs on four hits over 6 2/3 innings and may have looked even better than the line suggests. Home runs from Will Smith and Max Muncy in the seventh inning wrecked an otherwise excellent outing from Gausman, but when youâ€re facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, thereâ€s nearly no room for error.
Yamamoto was absolutely dominant against the Blue Jays, throwing a complete game with just one run allowed on 105 pitches. The Blue Jays are right to place their full trust in Gausman, who has earned it over his four seasons in Toronto, but Yamamoto is a daunting challenge for any lineup, even one of the best in baseball.
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