After a stress-free sweep of the Colorado Rockies, the Toronto Blue Jays landed back in reality on Friday against the World Series champions.
The Blue Jays dropped Friday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1, but look to rebound in Game 2 of the series on Saturday.
Live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Chris Bassitt gets the nod on the mound for the Blue Jays as he looks to follow up a strong outing against the Kansas City Royals in which he coughed up just one hit and one run in six innings.
For the season, Bassitt sports an 11-5 record, 4.12 ERA and 1.310 WHIP to go with 126 strikeouts over 129 innings.
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Watch Blue Jays vs. Dodgers on Sportsnet
The American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays are in Los Angeles for a three-game series against the Dodgers. Game 2 goes Saturday at 9:10 p.m. ET / 6:10 p.m. PT, with live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
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Sharing the mound will be Dodgers starter Blake Snell, who’s making his fourth appearance of the season after missing four months with shoulder inflammation. Through 14 innings, the 2023 Cy Young winner has a 3.21 ERA with 12 strikeouts and eight walks.
The Los Angeles matchup may have induced whiplash for the AL-leading Blue Jays (68-49), who opened their road trip with a three-game sweep against the lowly Rockies in which they recorded franchise highs in hits (63) and runs (45).
But the Dodgers, who pace the NL West at 67-49, present a much sterner challenge.
Their stars carried the load in the series-opening win as Mookie Betts went 2-for-4, including a go-ahead two-run homer, while Shohei Ohtani was 3-for-5 with two runs out of the leadoff spot. The rest of the Dodgers combined for just two hits.
Toronto, meanwhile, notched 10 hits but only managed a single run. Outfielder Daulton Varsho continued his strong play since returning from injury, going 3-for-4 at the plate while Addison Barger and deadline addition Ty France also had a pair of knocks each.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the Blue Jays with 18 home runs while slugging .483. Bo Bichette is 16 for 45 with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs over the past 10 games.
The Blue Jays will look to maintain distance in the division ahead of the second-place Boston Red Sox (65-52, three games back) and third-place New York Yankees (61-55, 6.5 games back).
The series at Dodger Stadium wraps up Sunday before the Blue Jays return home for a six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers beginning Tuesday.
–with files from The Associated Press
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