The Toronto Blue Jays won the American League pennant for the first time in 32 years on Monday night to set up a World Series showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
George Springer’s three-run home run in the seventh inning put the Jays ahead in Game 7. That turned out to be the series-clinching hit.
The World Series begins on Friday at Rogers Centre. Toronto earned home-field advantage by way of the better regular-season record.
Game 1: Friday, October 24 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 2: Saturday, October 25 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 3: Monday, October 27 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 4: Tuesday, October 28 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, October 29 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, October 31 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, November 1 (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Toronto will play in its first World Series since 1993.
The Dodgers are in the Fall Classic for the fifth time since 2017. They are the reigning champion and have won their last two World Series appearances.
The National League champion should be a heavy favorite because of the way its pitchers performed in the NLCS.
The rotation of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani will be fully rested for the World Series, but they’ll face a different type of challenge from the Blue Jays.
Toronto had one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball and its hitters have only struck out 64 times across 11 postseason games.
The matchup would’ve been far different against the Mariners, who had a postseason-leading 129 punchouts at the plate.
Toronto’s pitching staff is no joke either with Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber at the top. The Blue Jays can also rely on Chris Bassitt out of the pen.
The Blue Jays don’t have the World Series experience that flows through the Dodgers roster, but they do have two outstanding postseason performers in Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero has the best batting average this postseason among players on both rosters and he leads the playoffs with six home runs.
If Toronto pulls off the upset, Guerrero and Springer, a champion in the past with the Houston Astros, must set the tone at the plate.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.