Laika

I was thinking this last night You are going to let a guy go 4 for 4 with 7 walks or whatever in one game? At some point you need to just throw 100% fastballs at his hands. You need to make him uncomfortable and if you hit him so what. There is no way to win the series if he is that locked in and you walk him every time. The only reason the game went on so long last night is that Mookie Betts sucks. He's Ernie Clement now, on a $365M contract and trying to protect Ohtani.

The other way to think about it is he is just so good that he can play two positions "at once". So in a way the Dodgers are playing shorthanded when he is SP and DH. It's 9 vs 10!

Well, he did mildly pull his hamstring or something AND he had to stay up late. Hope

Olerud is a Hall of Fame poster but many simply cannot understand him. It's like trying to read Infinite Jest. And reading Spanky is like trying to read Riddley Walker.

shut up

Bo hitting directly behind Vlad is indeed very stupid if you are going to sub him out for IKF every game. Should be 5th, maybe leadoff now actually if Springer is dead (Springer is dead)

Ohtani becomes a human at the plate when he is on the bump, apparently. Might be worth pitching to him sometimes. I hate giving a guy with a 25% K rate free bases. MLB pitchers should be able to pitch to him without throwing strikes. Just don't take a guy like Seranthony Dominguez and try to get him to be cute.

From how he was walking, the dude has a serious oblique strain. I am guessing they will just take the full day to do tests and stuff. Maybe they keep him on the roster just out of some remote hope that he can pinch hit in a game 6 or 7? It's not like replacing him with Loperfido does the Jays much good.

Okay, second silver lining. This team has a different kind of energy when they are behind. They fell behind Seattle 2-0 and turned into a different team. They just lost a crippling game. Most lesser teams would fold. This is the ultimate test of the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays. Maybe this is the ultimate motivation.

Inexplicable and unforgiveable and annoyingly incongruent to pitch to Ohtani with Seranthony while up 5-4 and then just walk him every other time. Like, what was the plan? lol. I guess they thought Dominguez had the stuff to get him out but they did not have that faith in every subsequent pitcher? I don't mind most of the other position player substitutions - you never manage a game expecting it to never end - but the Straw for Barger one was too cute and too much. Toronto only had a 57% win probability after Barger reached on that error, so it was insane to remove one of your best hitters in a tie game. And he's not a bad runner! Different situation if it was someone very slow on the bases. Also, Straw is not a game changing base stealer. I think you can also criticize Kirk getting subbed out because it felt like the game might get silly right then and that substitution really made the lineup putrid, but in that moment I did understand the thought and it paid off mildly since Heineman running the bases kept the inning alive. Also, you have a fat guy going into the 13th inning as a catcher so attrition and fatigue are relevant considerations. Heineman did work a walk (well, rightfully he did) in his final PA before the whiff and he did hit a ball well to CF (94 mph) in his first PA so it's not like he had brutal PAs. Nathan Lukes swung at ball 4 three times against Kershaw, and it would have been a run. But how can you blame him when the ump was calling the game as he was? There probably is no silver lining since Springer is dead and both bullpens are wrecked now, but I guess if you want to grasp at straws, Ohtani just played two games in one night and now has to pitch today. Maybe he will suck? That's all I have. I want to die

This was the worst game in Blue Jays history

What can I even say

Roki Sasaki will blow a save this series. Tonight?

I wonder what the plan is tonight. This is not a good matchup for Scherzer. Anything could happen and he's a dog but on paper this version of Max Scherzer should get beat up by the Dodgers. Maybe John Schneider has some tricks up his sleeve? Bringing in Lauer for Ohtani's second PA? Scherzer+Lauer+Bassitt to try and get through six innings? Have to get to Glasnow in any event. Probably need 6+ to win this.

Yamamoto is incredible It's like if Chris Bassitt threw 98

Bo would still be weeks away if it was the regular season They are trying to ensure he can contribute in every game this series, in some way It probably is the best way to optimize what you have left or Bo Bichette to manage his workload even if it is the World Series

Scherzer G3 Bieber G4 I wonder why?

What's the market like for tonight?

The Blue Jays are a perfect team.

@enosarris Every Blue Jay swung harder in the second half other than Andrés Giménez, who is swinging harder in the playoffs than he did in the second half. It's nice to start with bat-to-ball and add intent like that.

The set on 2025 Shatkins/Schneider is legendary Bo 2B, Yesavage everything, Chris Bassitt as the surprise setup man, all of it

Arden Zwelling @ArdenZwelling Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins says Ty France "has gotten back to an incredible position physically. He's looked really good in all of his live at-bats. And he's a good matchup against this team.”

Exactly Springer is so old that they basically KNOW he sucks in the outfield. Plus he has a bum knee. Bo might actually be a decent 2B because it's freaking second base. You aren't going to beat the Dodgers with IKF as a starter or with multiple bad defensive positions

BICHETTE AT SECOND