Dodgers’ relief fails again as tie game becomes Game 1 rout

TORONTO — There was no one out on base, Game 1 of the World Series was still tied, and the Rogers Center crowd was going wild when Emmett Sheehan Came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning on Friday.

Sheehan is 25 years old and has pitched fewer than 150 career innings in the major leagues. Before that moment, he had only checked in mid-innings once, chasing an opener on September 15. What happened next – the nine-run burst that inspired toronto blue jays Losing 11-4 in its first World Series game in 32 years – exposes a serious weakness los angeles dodgers Proceed to this final round:

If their starters don’t get deep into the game, they are in trouble.

“Just a tough game,” Dodgers ace blake snell “But there’s still a lot to learn,” he said after recording only 15 outs.

On the eve of this World Series, the Dodgers learned alex vesiaOne of their best relievers, was dealing with what the team described as a “deeply personal family matter” that would force his removal from the roster. Vesia’s absence essentially reduced the list of reliable high-leverage relievers to four: Sheehan, anthony banda, blake trainin And roki sasakiTwo of them, Sheehan and Sasaki, have converted into starting pitchers.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expected Sheehan to get only one clean inning in these playoffs. But when Snell’s 100th pitch went haywire dolton varsho In the inning to load the bases in a 2-2 game, it was Sheehan, who was far better against lefties than Treinen this season, who was called upon to clean up the mess. As he proceeded to get the next three batters on base, it was Banda’s turn. And by the end of Banda’s outing – displaying the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, courtesy of addison bargerand a two-run homer alejandro kirk – The score had become very one-sided.

Roberts said: “We didn’t make pitches when we needed to keep the game close.”

Sheehan allowed an RBI single. ernie clement On his second pitch, gave the Blue Jays the first lead. Then he lost the pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes On a full count, issued a bases-loaded walk, and gave up a changeup over the plate andres jimenez Set for another run-scoring single. Banda was called upon to face the left-handed-hitting Barger, but his 2-1 slider took too much of the plate, resulting in a 413-foot home run that sent Blue Jays fans into a frenzy. Three batters later, Banda’s 1-0 fastball near the middle of the zone was sent 403 feet by Kirk.

It was the first time Banda had allowed two home runs in a single appearance, and it came at the worst time.

“I didn’t do a very good job of implementing,” Banda said.

With Vesia out of the roster, evan phillips With Michael Kopech recovering from Tommy John surgery and no longer considered viable, Banda and Treinen are the only two remaining back-end relievers from last year’s bullpen-fueled championship run. Two relievers signed in the offseason to complement that group, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, struggled throughout the year and were not deemed healthy enough to be included on the World Series roster. That’s why trennen and banda are so important, even in the midst of up and down seasons. That’s why Sheehan, a breakout starting pitcher who has allowed seven runs in 3⅔ innings in these playoffs, needs to pitch better.

“With our pens being built, we’re going to need them,” Roberts said. “We’ve still got a long way to go, a lot of baseball to play, but they’re definitely going to have to make good pitches.”

The Dodgers’ pitching staff held milwaukee brewers They led them to four runs in a sweep of the National League Championship Series, during which they deployed only their best pitchers. Sasaki, Vessia and the Dodgers’ four starters–Snell, yoshinobu yamamoto, tyler glasnow And shohei ohtani – The Dodgers struck out all but nine in that series, a byproduct of their rotation’s dominance.

However, in this series, they face a Blue Jays lineup that is every bit as patient but far more powerful than Milwaukee’s. Snell lacked his typical fastball command and struggled to find his changeup, needing 29 pitches to survive the first inning and make it to triple figures before recording his first out in the sixth. Over five innings, he allowed eight hits and issued three walks. When he exited, the bullpen was tasked with recording 12 outs.

Before they could record just three, the game was essentially over.

“We’re confident,” Snell said of a Dodgers team that entered the World Series with a 9-1 record in these playoffs. “We know how good we are. That was a tough game, and then they came out swinging it and played a better game. It’s four games. You have to win four.”