Yesavage's record 12 K's lead Jays past Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- Trey Yesavage set a World Series rookie record with 12 strikeouts, and the Blue Jays opened Game 5 with back-to-back homers in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night that moved Toronto within one win of its first championship since 1993.

Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered on Blake Snell's first and third pitches, the first consecutive homers ever to start a World Series game.

Yesavage, a precocious 22-year-old right-hander who started his season in April pitching before 327 fans in Single-A, took over from there.

With a sinking splitter, a spinning slider and an overpowering fastball that quieted L.A.'s bats and a crowd of 52,175, he broke the prior rookie record of 11 strikeouts set by Don Newcombe for the Dodgers in a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees in the 1949 Series opener. Getting six K's each with his splitter and slider, Yesavage became the first Series pitcher with 12 strikeouts and no walks.

"I'm kind of blown away by what he did," Toronto manager John Schneider said.

After losing a Game 3 heartbreaker in 18 innings Monday night, the resilient Blue Jays bounced right back with two comfortable wins.

Toronto leads 3-2 in the best-of-seven matchup and can dethrone the defending champions back home when the Series resumes Friday night at Rogers Centre. No team has won consecutive titles since the Yankees took three in a row from 1998 to 2000.

"We've got to kind of wipe the slate clean and find a way to win Game 6 and pick up the pieces and see where we're at," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Yesavage allowed three hits over seven innings and his only run when Enrique Hernandez homered on a high fastball to trim the Dodgers' deficit to 2-1 in the third.

Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman finished a four-hitter.

"When three of my pitches are in the strike zone, or even two, like part of tonight, I mean, I'm in control," Yesavage said. "Just stay in the strike zone and get ahead."

Yesavage debuted with the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, his fifth level of baseball this year. He made three regular-season starts, and he now is 3-1 in five postseason outings.

He induced 23 swing-and-misses -- the most in a Series game since pitch tracking started in 2008, one more than the San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum in 2010's Game 5.

"Obviously the stuff is incredible, but the maturity to go and handle these moments is unbelievable. It was a special thing to watch today," teammate Bo Bichette said. "I think he's ultra confident, but you never hear it in the clubhouse, which I think says something about him. He comes here to work and try to help us win. I can't say enough good things about his performance."

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, allowing five runs, six hits and four walks over 6⅔ innings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shook up his slumping lineup, dropping Mookie Betts as low as third for the first time since 2021 and benching outfielder Andy Pages in favor of Alex Call. It didn't spark an offense that is hitting .202 in the Series and has solo shots on seven of its eight home runs. L.A. has scored just four runs in its past 29 innings. And its Nos. 1 to 4 hitters on Wednesday night (Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Betts and Freddie Freeman) combined to go 1-for-15 with 8 strikeouts.

The Dodgers also threw a World Series-record four wild pitches in a span of two innings.

"We've got to make some adjustments," Roberts said. "We've been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we've got to find a way to win a game. That's it."

Schneider, batting first only because regular leadoff hitter George Springer got hurt in Game 3, sent Snell's initial offering into the left-field bleachers, and Guerrero hit Snell's third pitch into the Dodgers' bullpen for his eighth home run of the postseason.

Schneider mimics different stances throughout the year, including those of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Bobby Witt Jr. and even the Dodgers' Smith during the World Series. Schneider was in an old stance of his from the minor leagues against Snell.

Snell started with three fastballs then avoided another one for 22 consecutive pitches before striking out Andres Gimenez with a heater to end the second.

Ernie Clement added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead after right fielder Teoscar Hernandez came up short on a sliding catch attempt as Daulton Varsho's drive bounced into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple.

Another run scored on a wild pitch in the seventh by Edgardo Henriquez, who allowed Bichette's RBI single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Anthony Banda.

Game 6 will see the Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto oppose the Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman in a rematch of Game 2, which L.A. won 5-1.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.