Toronto is set to play the defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the World Series.
This is the first World Series for the Blue Jays since 1993, when Joe Carter hit his famous World Series winning home run.
The Dodgers are the favourite in the series, with betting odds and expert predictions reflecting that. According to MLB.com, 64% of their experts picked the Dodgers to win.
Ian Hunter, a Blue Jays writer says, “It’s best on best, it’s not quite as David and Goliath as a lot of people are panning this out to be…”
Toronto had the better regular season record, finishing one game ahead of the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the head-to-head matchups in the regular season, winning two out of three. The Blue Jays only put up one run in each of their losses, and they beat the Dodgers 5-4 on Aug. 10.
Rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage is getting the start in Game 1 for the Blue Jays. He’s had six MLB career starts, with three of them
Trey Yesavage (Credit: Sportsnet)
being in this playoff run. In his first playoff start he pitched just over five innings, giving up no hits and having 11 strikeouts against the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Since then he’s had two more starts, going 1-1 and giving up seven runs in around 10 innings against the Seattle Mariners.
Trey Yesavage is the youngest pitcher in 78 years to start Game 1 of the World Series, since Ralph Branca in 1947.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are starting veteran pitcher Blake Snell. He last started game 1 against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS. Snell pitched eight innings, giving up only one hit and had 10 strikeouts on the day.
Star player Bo Bichette is back on the roster for the Blue Jays ahead of the World Series. He hasn’t played since Sept. 6 against the New York Yankees.
Game 2 starting pitchers are expected to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Dodgers, and the Toronto Blue Jays will start Kevin Gausman, who started Game 7 against the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS.
Game 1 tonight is in Toronto, first pitch is at 8 p.m.
