Blue Jays bring World Series back to Toronto with the lead, the momentum and all the good vibes

LOS ANGELES — I did something earlier on Wednesday that I’ve never done before: I changed my pick. At noon ET on CBS Sports HQ at noon ET, I said the Dodgers would win Game 5 of the World Series. Six hours later, back on CBS Sports HQ from Dodger Stadium, I said that I changed my mind and was taking the Blue Jays. After the hit, a colleague asked me who I thought would win the series. And I said I think the Blue Jays. Before the series started, I predicted he Dodgers would win in five.

Now, after a 6-1 Blue Jays win in Game 5, I’m convinced on the Blue Jays. They’ve got this series.

There’s just been a total vibe shift for me and much of it is based on the fortitude the Blue Jays continue to display. There’s a feeling in the clubhouse that’s almost palpable. Sure, every team that has ever been in the World Series has said similar things and every team that gets here believes they are going to win it. But there’s a feel that is difficult to describe. This Blue Jays team feels like they simply will not be denied. 

After Game 4, Ernie Clement quoted former U.S.A. hockey coach Herb Brooks in the clubhouse, saying the Jays are a “team of uncommon men.” Those uncommon men, Clement argued, believe they are the best team in baseball.

An excitable Max Scherzer brushed off the idea that the team was as heartbroken after Game 3 as everyone else thought they were. 

“What we saw from everyone in this clubhouse gave us reason to believe in each other. We responded in a big way,” he said.

“I think these guys are saying right now they have earned, and I think that they truly believe it,” manager John Schneider said before Game 5 on Wednesday. “It’s kind of like when Ernie said, I love our chances in the ALCS when we were down 3-2, I think that’s what they genuinely believe and I love their confidence.”

There’s been plenty of adversity, but they respond every single time.

If they haven’t lost this series yet, they just aren’t going to lose it.

They lost one of their best hitters, George Springer, to injury; he hasn’t played since leaving Game 3 early. They are using a guy who didn’t return from Tommy John surgery until August in the rotation alongside a rookie who only made three MLB starts before the playoffs. They have a patchwork bullpen. There’s a 31-year-old rookie in Nathan Lukes, who spent 10 years in the minors. Bo Bichette is playing injured. Their big offseason addition, Anthony Santander, was a relative bust in the regular season and is now injured and out. They lost the first two games of the ALCS at home and still won the series. They fell behind 2-1 in the World Series after a heartbreaking, 18-inning Game 3 loss. Now, they have a 3-2 lead. And they are going back home, where they were 54-27 this season. Including the playoffs, that home record jumps to 59-30, the best mark in all of baseball. 

The aforementioned rookie, 22-year-old Trey Yesavage, completely dominated the Dodgers’ offense in Game 5. He was breathtaking. He was heavy with his excellent slider and, as usual, used the splitter as his out pitch. He got 10 swings on the splitter, including seven whiffs. In all, he struck out 12 Dodgers, breaking the rookie record in a World Series game — coincidentally, it was Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe who previously had the record (1949 Game 1). 

“Being a rookie that’s 22 years old and having that weight put on your shoulders, it’s a big deal,” Yesavage said Tuesday. “But everyone in this clubhouse has my back.”

Yesavage only allowed three hits in Game 5; two of them were infield singles. He had never before thrown a pitch in the seventh inning in a start, not even in the minors. He completed seven innings in this one. It was masterful.

How about Davis Schneider? He had only started four playoff games so far out of 15 Blue Jays postseason games. He hadn’t hit leadoff. He was thrown into the spot, in part due to the Springer injury. He homered on the first pitch of the game from two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. It’s just a next-man-up mentality with this team. Clement and Addison Barger and Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez and, well, pretty much everyone. Isiah Kiner-Falefa even had an RBI single in this one.

Of course, there was also the superstar, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with a home run right after Schneider. It was the first time in history that a team hit back-to-back home runs to start a World Series game. Snell had never given up two first-inning home runs in his career previously, so it was a double dose of history. 

It was a special start to the game, followed by a special performance from Yesavage. It’s a special team. 

Snell, by the way, was on a monster run of dominance before the World Series. The Blue Jays pounced on him twice this series. He’s given up 10 runs on 14 hits in 11 ⅔ innings. That’s a 7.71 ERA. In his previous three playoff starts, he had an 0.86 ERA. 

The Jays just can’t be stopped. The team that led the majors in batting average during the regular season that can also hit for power is relentless, even short a few guys due to injury. It was on display in both Games 4 and 5. They’ll club big home runs but also string hits together and make you pay for your mistakes. 

Take the third run. The Dodgers had just cut the lead to 2-1. Daulton Varsho sent a shot down the right field line. It was clearly a hit, but Teoscar Hernández misplayed it into a triple. Varsho then scored immediately on a sac fly. They just find ways to punish their opponents. Again and again. A single and a walk both came around to score in the seventh inning, pushing the lead to 5-1. A wild pitch contributed to a run in the eighth. They’ve also hit 27 home runs in 16 postseason games. They just attack from every angle. 

To reiterate, yes, every single World Series team should believe in themselves, but there is an air about these Jays. Just look at the other dugout. Did the Dodgers look like a hungry team fighting for its life in Game 5 or did they appear lifeless? Some of that is the dominant pitching from Yesavage, but the Dodgers made plenty of mistakes on the pitching and defense side of things. 

Look, the Dodgers could very well still win this series by bouncing back and looking like the elite version of themselves. They could win two games in Toronto. Would anyone be shocked? I just don’t think that’ll happen. I think the Blue Jays have this series. They are in control right now and just need to win one game in two chances at home. 

It won’t take two. Blue Jays in six. I was wrong before the series, but I’m tired of being wrong about this group of uncommon men. They will soon be crowned World Series champions.