Blue Jays’ relentless offense smothers Dodgers bullpen Blake Snell in Game 1 blowout

It may have taken 32 years for the World Series to return to Toronto, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Before this series even started, most were already throwing around the David/Goliath comparisons – the Blue Jays were David in this situation and the Dodgers were Goliath. It turns out the ultimate survivor of that fight came out swinging in the first round.

While Los Angeles’ offense struck first against rookie Trey Yesavage and went over the first two runs in Game 1, Toronto’s offense bided its time against Blake Snell – posting a sub-one ERA with 28 strikeouts across three post-season starts in Friday’s Game 1 – before exploding with a nine-run sixth inning. That was the most runs scored in a single inning in World Series history since the Detroit Tigers rallied for 10 runs in Game 6 of the 1968 Fall Classic.

It felt like a train was going through Rogers Center on that sixth spot. Six consecutive baserunners reached base safely to start the inning — all via walk, single or hit-by-pitch. That’s how this crime likes to work. It is death by a thousand cuts.

They don’t live and die on home runs like other teams do. But if they encounter one, as Addison Barger did with the first-ever pinch-hit grand slam — the club’s second in these playoffs, one that falls short of matching the most in a single postseason — in World Series history, they’ll take it. But big swings like this are the ‘icing on the cake’ for this club, as Schneider described pre-game.

Even after Barger’s historic bomb, which came during a left-on-left matchup against Banda, the Blue Jays continued to throw higher cuts. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was largely a non-factor in Game 1, illustrating the offense’s remarkable depth, sparked another rally by reaching safely with a single.

That set the stage for Alejandro Kirk’s two-run shot, the main attraction of his impressive 3-for-3 performance that put him on base in all four at-bats. It’s as ‘stable’ as it gets, which is why displays like this can sneak up on you.

But it wasn’t just the home run that stood out to Kirk. Toronto’s backstop also played a key role in the lead-up to Daulton Varsho’s game-tying home run off Snell — the first dinger he’s allowed to hit a left-handed hitter since June 2, 2024 — when he sent the eighth pitch of the at-bat into right field for his first of three hits.

Overall, the Blue Jays offense executed their game plan against Snell perfectly. They had him throw 29 pitches in the first inning – a season-high (regular season or postseason) in 2025, and his second-most since ’23. Although they left the bases loaded, that opening frame sped up the clock for when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would have to turn to his bullpen.

Placing a heavy toll on Los Angeles’ bullpen is the key here. That’s their Achilles heel, especially considering they’re without Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia.

Opening this series with an impressive win was huge for the Blue Jays. Not only does it give them early momentum in this series, but there’s also a historical advantage: the winner of Game 1 has won the World Series 64.2 percent of the time, including 18 of the previous 22 Fall Classics.

It’s taken a long time for this moment to arrive, so no one is taking a 1-0 lead for granted. They’re already thinking about what it will take to “prepare for tomorrow,” when they’ll face another of the Dodgers’ tough starters, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Still, Friday’s big win proved that Toronto shouldn’t be pushed aside as the underdog story. After all, this franchise is now just three wins away from its first World Series title since back-to-back victories in 1992 and ’93.

And with Cito Gaston, the former captain of those championship teams, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game 1, the feeling of recapturing those glory days has never felt closer than it does now.