Dodgers vs. Blue Jays – Preview
Saturday, 8:00pm ET • Rogers Centre
Our Pick: Blue Jays Moneyline

Toronto seized the series lead with an emphatic 11–4 win in Game 1, keyed by a nine-run sixth capped by Addison Barger’s first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history and a 3-for-3 night from Alejandro Kirk. That eruption flipped momentum and kept the Rogers Centre crowd fully engaged heading into tonight’s Game 2 (Sat., Oct. 25). 

The pitching matchup favors a tight game, but Toronto has a credible path to another home victory. The Dodgers start RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12–8, 2.49 ERA), while the Blue Jays counter with RHP Kevin Gausman (10–11, 3.59)—who enters with a 2.00 ERA this postseason after being pushed to Game 2 for extra rest. Expect Toronto to reprise its Game 1 plan: grind at-bats, elevate pitch counts, and force L.A. to the middle relief bridge. That’s precisely where the Dodgers showed vulnerability Friday. 

Home-field has been a real edge for the Jays all year: 54–27 at Rogers Centre in the regular season (AL-best home form in the East), and they’ve already leveraged that environment once in this series. With the series still in Toronto tonight, that advantage remains material. 

Bullpens could be the difference again. L.A. is leaning on Roki Sasaki as closer, but the bridge is unsettled—Emmet Sheehan and Anthony Banda were tagged during Friday’s decisive inning, and key lefty Alex Vesia is not expected to be available for the World Series. Conversely, Toronto’s ‘pen exited Game 1 in good shape after efficient innings from Seranthony Domínguez, Braydon Fisher, and late coverage from Chris Bassitt and Eric Lauer. That rest profile positions John Schneider to be aggressive behind Gausman. 

Yamamoto’s excellence is real and recent, but MLB’s own Game 2 briefing notes the Dodgers’ “muddled” middle relief as a pressure point—exactly the scenario Toronto exploited in the opener by stacking patient, contact-oriented plate appearances. If the Jays can force Yamamoto into traffic and reach that bridge again, the matchup tilts blue. 

Finally, context matters: since 1985, teams going down 0–2 on the road in a best-of-seven have come back only 11 of 57 times (19.3%). With the series leverage, elite home form, a rested Gausman, and a sharper bullpen outlook, Toronto is in the best position to take Game 2 on the moneyline.