LOS ANGELES — In so many ways, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the standard, and while one series in August is mostly just that, there sure was some October-calibre-test energy for the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend at Chavez Ravine.
They fell short during the riveting Max Scherzer-Clayton Kershaw duel in the opener before getting skunked in the second game. Then, they found their level in Sunday’s wildly compelling finale, when Ernie Clement’s solo shot in the ninth inning and Mason Fluharty’s gutsy escape in the bottom half capped a haywire final two innings.
Jeff Hoffman, having allowed one lead to slip away in the eighth by issuing consecutive full-count walks to Will Smith and Freddie Freeman, walked the bases loaded with one out in the ninth before giving way to the rookie lefty. Faced with the tightest of jams and long odds to escape, Fluharty got Shohei Ohtani to chase a strike-to-ball sweeper on the ninth pitch of a gruelling at-bat before Mookie Betts rolled over a 1-1 cutter for a game-ending fielder’s choice, securing a 5-4 win that averted a sweep and finished off a 4-2 road trip.
“Almost impossible, but he got it done,” said Clement. “I don't think anybody's really expecting it, one out, bases loaded and two of the best hitters in the game up. You might as well go right at them and give it everything you've got. So we're pumped for him. It's a cool moment for him. It's just really cool to see him fighting for us.”
Fluharty was far from the only one fighting as the Blue Jays (69-50) used every position player except for Buddy Kennedy and every reliever but Tommy Nance on an afternoon reflective of “how we win ballgames,” added Clement, “just relying on everybody.”
And that’s what it took against the Dodgers (68-50), the defending World Series champions who are rounding into form with their rotation back to full strength and their lineup and bullpen getting there.
As such, the Blue Jays went from obliterating the pitiful Colorado Rockies to facing the deepest team in the majors during a road trip of extremes, turning the page on losses of 5-1 Friday to Kershaw and 9-1 Saturday to Blake Snell to rally from 3-1 down versus Tyler Glasnow.
At the plate, they uncharacteristically managed just 24 hits and 10 walks while striking out 35 times during the series, while on the mound, they issued 24 walks, a season high 13 of them Sunday, all underscoring the degree of difficulty under the California sun.
“The Dodgers,” said Eric Lauer, who walked a tightrope by allowing only three runs despite six hits and four walks in three innings, “are a good measure to see where you're at, where you line up and either where you want to get to, or where you want to stay at. So, a good team to face to make sure that you're playing to the highest ability you can.”
The Blue Jays got there, in the wildest of ways, Sunday.
They struck in the first when Bo Bichette walked and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled him home, but the Dodgers took the lead back immediately when Ohtani, extending his hit streak to nine games, and Freeman went deep. Freeman’s bases-loaded walk in the second made it 3-1, and Glasnow settled in from there until the sixth, when Ty France’s bloop single to right scored Bichette and made it a one-run game.
Then came the pivotal eighth, when Guerrero and Addison Barger hammered hanging sweepers from Blake Treinen for back-to-back homers, the Blue Jays finding the power element they lacked in the first two games, when the Dodgers went deep three times.
But Yariel Rodriguez left two on with two out in the eighth for Hoffman, who walked Smith and Freeman to tie the game again before Michael Conforto ended the threat, setting up Clement’s first-pitch drive off Alex Vesia to restore the Blue Jays’ edge in the ninth.
“We had to score a run,” said Clement. “And I think that's something that we've done a really, really good job of this year. When the other team scores, we bounce right back and throw a punch ourselves. That's a great offence over there, and it's not easy to get a lead here. That was a big run.”
Especially given how the bottom of the ninth nearly unravelled, as Hoffman walked his first two batters, Kyle Freeland sacrificed them into scoring position, and Alex Call walked, forcing the Blue Jays into facing Ohtani.
Schneider handed Fluharty the ball, and he made the unlikeliest of escapes for his first career save.
“Coming in against Shohei, I was super excited, super pumped. Honestly, blacked out, have no idea what happened out there,” said Fluharty. “But just trusted my pitches, attacking guys, that's all you can do in that situation. Throw strikes and execute pitches. Glad we won.”
As are the Blue Jays, of course, who moved four games back in front of the Boston Red Sox, 6-2 losers at San Diego, with a challenging homestand beginning Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. They’re 39-27 against .500 teams, so by and large, they’ve handled top clubs well, but the Dodgers, at home, before a rowdy crowd of 41,557, offer a test like few others.
“I was talking to a few guys even on the first night here, it's fun, this is what you play for,” said Schneider. “You try to put yourselves in those moments and you try to slow it down a little bit, hopefully knowing that you're going to be in those again. Really, really good team. A lot of star power, a lot of good pitchers. But I think that we showed we can play with anyone when we play our type of game.”
They got there, just barely, in a wild finale that’s an indicator of the level needed not just to reach October, but to succeed once there, too.
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