Game 1 of the World Series did not go in any way the Los Angeles Dodgers hoped for as they lost 11-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Dodgers played poor baseball all around, which included squandering multiple opportunities to break the game open early on offense, and then a complete pitching meltdown where they allowed nine runs in the sixth inning.
While the Dodgers have dealt with challenging environments already, there was something different about the feel in Toronto as all 44,353 fans in attendance were locked in and making the Rogers Centre loud.
“The crowd was electric tonight,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “They have been waiting a long time for a World Series to come back here. I hope that they’re just as loud, if not louder, tomorrow. It’s not very often you get a feeling like we had in Game 7 or tonight in the sixth inning.
“You can’t take it for granted. This is a special place to play. Everyone here in this city here, in this building, and across the country, we feel it for sure. Again, it’s nice, but you got to get ready for tomorrow.”
Blue Jays fans brought their best effort to get inside the Dodgers’ heads, as well. A sign just behind the Dodgers’ bullpen was shown on the broadcast and read, “Featuring the 6th-worst Dodgers’ bullpen in history!”
And during Shohei Ohtani’s final plate appearance, the fans broke out into a “we don’t need you” chant before he walked. Ohtani also was loudly booed during player introductions before first pitch. The genesis, of course, stemmed from Ohtani choosing to sign with the Dodgers over the Blue Jays in free agency.
“I just wanted to get the third out,” Schneider said of the chant. “I love energetic fanbases. It happens in different ways and shapes and forms in every stadium. We saw it just the last series in Seattle.
“Kind of heard it, but it’s tough to talk about a player like that, to be honest with you. He’s special. I’m glad that the home run that he hit came when it came and we had a little cushion. But I love that our fans are passionate about our team.”
Shohei Ohtani’s struggles in leverage at-bats
Ohtani has been inconsistent as a hitter throughout the postseason, and he’s failed more often than not in high-leverage moments.
His -0.81 clutch, a stat that shows how much better or worse a player is in high-leverage compared to neutral situations, ranks last among all qualified postseason hitters.
In addition, Ohtani’s win probability added of -0.17 ranks 121 of 153 hitters.
Prior to his three-homer day in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Ohtani was hitting .158/.273/368. In Game 1 of the World Series, Ohtani went 0-for-3 while the game was in close situations.
Ohtani hit his homer when the game was already a blowout, but the Dodgers need more production from him.
“The homer was nice,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Hopefully he can kind of build on that one. He’s going to be alright.”
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