Blue Jays power past Dodgers with monster 6th inning to take Game 1 of the World Series

By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — It’s been 32 years since Toronto experienced the thrills of the World Series. And on Friday, the city felt those same shockwaves after the Blue Jays came back to take Game 1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a final score of 11-4.

The Jays found themselves in a 2-0 hole heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Dodgers looked well on their way to their fourth straight series-opening win this postseason.

But with one Dalton Varsho swing, Toronto found themselves tied with the Dodgers, and the rest was history.

A nine-run onslaught in the bottom of the sixth inning made the difference for Toronto in front of their home fans at a loud and energized Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays utility player Ernie Clement atoned for an early base running mistake with a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning to get the scoring started.

The Jays tacked on two more runs before Addison Barger hit a pinch-hit grand slam to break the game wide open. Catcher Alejandro Kirk added a cherry-on-top with a two-run home run for added insurance to make it 11-2.

Barger’s blast was the first ever pinch hit grand slam in World Series history, according to the Fox broadcast.

Coming off of a Game 4 performance in the NLCS which still has baseball fans marveling, Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani connected on a two-run home run in the next half inning to cut into the Jays’ big lead.

But that was as close as the Dodgers would come the rest of the way.

Following the lopsided victory in the series opener, the Blue Jays find themselves on the right side of Major League Baseball history.

The winner of Game 1 has gone on to win 23 of the last 27 Fall Classics, dating back to 1997, according to the MLB.

The loss was an unfamiliar feeling for the Dodgers, who had only dropped one game this entire postseason entering Friday.

While the four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers gave the Dodgers some extra rest before their trek up to Canada to start the series, a quick league championship series hasn’t always favored the winner.

The team that swept the LCS is 0-5 against the team that won their respective series in seven games, like the Blue Jays did over the Seattle Mariners, according to the broadcast.

Los Angeles starter Blake Snell came out the gates strong but stumbled in the sixth inning, exiting the game after allowing five earned runs while walking three batters and striking out four.

Trey Yesavage, the rookie starter for the Blue Jays, looked like he belonged on the sport’s biggest stage, going four innings, striking out five batters along the way.

Eric Lauer closed out the game for Toronto, getting Dodgers star Mookie Betts to strike out.

The 25-year-old Barger told the Fox crew that he doesn’t remember hitting the grand slam.

“It was so hard to kind of gather my thoughts and everything,” Barger said. “It was just a blackout moment. Crazy.”

The Blue Jays won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993 and despite the long drought, the team has a “tight, energetic” clubhouse, according to Barger.

“Every day we’re having fun in there,” Barger said. “We aren’t taking it too serious. We understand we are playing the Dodgers and they are a great team, but we are trying to keep everything the same and go out and compete like we have all year.”

Barger was quick to praise the Blue Jays fans for their support.

“We have the best fans in baseball,” Barger said. “Obviously a whole country behind us. We feel the energy every single night. They’re awesome. We see them on the streets. … I couldn’t be more happy to be here.”

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Toronto.

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