4 days ago
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LOS ANGELES -- In the moments earlier Game 5 of the World Series, Trey Yesavage was nether attack. Warming up successful the visitors bullpen successful close tract astatine Dodger Stadium, surrounded by Los Angeles Dodgers fans connected some sides, the Toronto Blue Jays' 22-year-old right-handed rookie weathered insults of each mode and variety. At 1 point, Yesavage took a breath, stepped disconnected the mound and turned to pitching manager Pete Walker.
"This is fun," Yesavage said. "I emotion this."
Of each the improbable happenings amid the Blue Jays' tally to the cusp of their archetypal title successful much than 30 years, nary rivals the emergence of Yesavage. His archetypal crippled this play came successful April successful Jupiter, Florida, for Single-A Dunedin. There were 327 fans successful the stadium. His latest, connected Wednesday night, was a seven-inning, no-walk, 12-strikeout masterpiece that thrust the Blue Jays to a 6-1 triumph and sent them backmost to Toronto 1 triumph shy of a World Series title. It was a show that muzzled the mouthy masses successful close tract and the remainder of the 52,175 who saw an all-time show from a pitcher throwing successful his eighth large league game.
Against a lineup featuring 3 aboriginal Hall of Famers, successful beforehand of a assemblage that understood the desperation Los Angeles would look with a Game 5 loss, Yesavage devastated the Dodgers implicit and over. They swung and missed 23 times, astatine his disappearing splitter and darting slider and carrying fastball. When they did marque contact, it was mostly feeble; a solo location tally from Kiké Hernández accounted for their lone run. Yesavage carved them similar a pumpkin, due considering the Blue Jays volition effort to unafraid their archetypal title since 1993 connected Halloween.
In portion due to the fact that the kid taken with the No. 20 prime successful past year's draught went from Single-A to High-A to Double-A to Triple-A to the large leagues, wherever astir instantly everyone astir him understood however helium made specified an ascent. Yesavage's worldly is nasty, sure, but his demeanor -- state lad who sees the large metropolis arsenic conscionable different happening to conquer -- exudes calmness and assurance without a whit of arrogance.
After Toronto's Game 5 win, successful which location runs by Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected the archetypal and 3rd pitches staked them to a pb they would not yield, Chris Bassitt and Shane Bieber, who unneurotic person thrown much than 2,000 large league innings and made 359 large league starts, sat adjacent to each different successful the clubhouse and simply marveled. They've known Yesavage for six weeks, and each outing -- whether it was shutting down Tampa Bay successful his debut oregon throwing 5⅓ no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts against the Yankees successful his postseason debut -- reinforces what they find astir awesome astir him.
"How helium was capable to marque Game 5 of the World Series, mentally, look similar immoderate different day," Bassitt said. "It could've been May. You couldn't tell. He's conscionable calm, and he's got wholehearted content successful himself."
Said Bieber: "It would beryllium casual to accidental it's an ignorance-is-bliss thing, but I don't deliberation it is. It's afloat condemnation successful himself and his crippled program and his stuff. When he's got it, he's got it. Look successful his eyes. And helium had it."
Bassitt continued.
"When helium gets his splitter going, I deliberation helium realizes the different squad has nary chance," helium said. "Because nary 1 has been capable to fig it out. Early on, erstwhile helium had the divided going, it was like: strap in, due to the fact that you guys are gonna beryllium successful trouble."
Trouble doesn't afloat picture the Dodgers' fruitlessness against Yesavage successful Game 5. In Game 1, helium had operated with nary power of his splitter, leaving him to navigate Los Angeles' lineup handicapped. Between his bullpen league this week and drawback play Tuesday, Yesavage said helium recovered his splitter grip and enter...
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