Yesavage, a precocious 22-year-old right-hander who started his season in April pitching before 327 fans in Single-A, took over from there.
With a sinking splitter, a spinning slider and an overpowering fastball that quieted L.A.’s bats and a crowd of 52,175, he broke the prior rookie record of 11 strikeouts set by Don Newcombe for the Dodgers in a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees in the 1949 Series opener. Getting six K’s each with his splitter and slider, Yesavage became the first Series pitcher with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
After losing a Game 3 heartbreaker in 18 innings Monday night, the resilient Blue Jays bounced right back with two comfortable wins.
“We’ve got to kind of wipe the slate clean and find a way to win Game 6 and pick up the pieces and see where we’re at,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“When three of my pitches are in the strike zone, or even two, like part of tonight, I mean, I’m in control,” Yesavage said. “Just stay in the strike zone and get ahead.”
Yesavage debuted with the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, his fifth level of baseball this year. He made three regular-season starts, and he now is 3-1 in five postseason outings.
He induced 23 swing-and-misses — the most in a Series game since pitch tracking started in 2008, one more than the San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum in 2010’s Game 5.
Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, allowing five runs, six hits and four walks over 6⅔ innings.
“We’ve got to make some adjustments,” Roberts said. “We’ve been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we’ve got to find a way to win a game. That’s it.”
Schneider mimics different stances throughout the year, including those of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Bobby Witt Jr. and even the Dodgers’ Smith during the World Series. Schneider was in an old stance of his from the minor leagues against Snell.
Snell started with three fastballs then avoided another one for 22 consecutive pitches before striking out Andres Gimenez with a heater to end the second.
Ernie Clement added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead after right fielder Teoscar Hernandez came up short on a sliding catch attempt as Daulton Varsho’s drive bounced into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple.
Another run scored on a wild pitch in the seventh by Edgardo Henriquez, who allowed Bichette’s RBI single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Anthony Banda.
Game 6 will see the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto oppose the Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman in a rematch of Game 2, which L.A. won 5-1.
“I’m kind of blown away by what he did,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.
Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman finished a four-hitter.
The Dodgers also threw a World Series-record four wild pitches in a span of two innings.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Blue Jays open Game 5 with back-to-back HRs (0:50)Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. silence Dodger Stadium crowd with back-to-back home runs to start Game 5 for the Blue Jays. (0:50)