Overall, Yesavage finished with seven innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run given up, no walks and 12 strikeouts. Yesavage generated 14 whiffs with his slider, seven on his splitter and two on his fastball. The 22-year-old had an incredible 44 whiff%, one of the best pitching performances in World Series history.
Trey Yesavage has set an MLB record for most strikeouts by a rookie pitcher in a World Series game! Incredible! 🎥: Sportnet | #BlueJays
Yesavage is also the first pitcher in World Series history to strike out 12 batters and give up no walks. In fact, he gave up just three hits, a home run to Enrique Hernández and two infield singles to former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernández.
The 22-year-old retired all nine Dodgers in the starting lineup. Will Smith, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all struck out two batters, while Yesavage also struck out Shohei Ohtani, Tommy Edman, T. Hernández, E. Hernández, Max Muncy and Alex Call.
Through five innings, Yesavage recorded 10 strikeouts. Only one other player has done that in a World Series game, Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who was in the building.
Simply put, the Blue Jays needed a performance like this from their rookie. A win on Wednesday would put them one step closer to winning their third World Series, giving them a 3-2 series lead. They also had home field advantage the last two games, as they finished with the better record of the regular season.
Speaking of Game 6, the Blue Jays host the Dodgers on Friday at 8:00 PM ET.
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