The Red Sox offense has failed to score for three straight games, showing signs of regression after a brief winning streak. Their best scoring chance came in the first inning with a double from Willson Contreras, but they could not capitalize.
Payton Tolle is coming off an electric outing against the Yankees, which Over The Monster's own Jake Roy went into detail about earlier this morning. If Tolle's able to start duplicating that success in future outings, we could be on the verge of a career that's about to take off.
The first reason for optimism is that Yesavage throws quality pitches. His fastball sat at 94.7 mph during the regular season, and his devastating splitter came as advertised. His slider is another funky weapon, and he's apparently been tinkering with a curveball as well this offseason. His success wasn't a case of getting lucky with an underwhelming repertoire; Yesavage has the tools needed to get major league hitters out.
One way they may attempt to do that? Go and get a guy who is being compared to Yesavage. The player drawing those comparisons is none other than free agent Japanese pitching sensation Tatsuya Imai, who will be playing in MLB for the first time in his career in 2026. The 27-year-old right hander has recently been compared to Yesavage by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel for what he brings to the table.
They struck out 12 times over seven dazzling innings from Yesavage. They looked passive, uncertain and unable to adjust to his admittedly wicked three-pitch repertoire. It was all the worst traits the Dodgers had flashed at times during their up-and-down regular season, once again rearing their ugly head at precisely the wrong time. "Right now, we're at elimination," manager Dave Roberts said. "We've got to kind of wipe the slate clean."
With two on and two out in Game 5's fourth inning, Tommy Edman swung underneath a Trey Yesavage slider that stayed above the zone and dropped his head in disgust. His batted ball sailed high and fell harmlessly into the glove of Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez, halting an early threat against a budding ace who was just beginning to find his rhythm.
The short answer is that it probably doesn't, as the combination of circumstance and sample makes a Yesavage redux nearly impossible to duplicate. Paul Skenes never should have pitched in the minors at all, yet the Pirates kept him at Triple-A for seven starts last year. Whatever brain genius decided on that path cost Pittsburgh a draft pick and a year of service time, which is all the more hilarious to me because of their skinflint owner.
TORONTO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his sixth home run of the postseason, rookie Trey Yesavage struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays forced a Game 7 in the American League Championship Series by beating the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night. The series will be decided Monday night in Toronto, the second Game 7 in Blue Jays history. Toronto lost to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS. Seattle, the only big league team without a pennant, will play in a postseason Game 7 for the first time. The winner faces the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series beginning Friday.
So, uh, there was no playoff game yesterday. Despite what you read here from yours truly, Game 6 of the ALCS is tonight instead of last night. Whoops! That's my bad and apologies to y'all for being goofy online once again. Here's a random clip as an apology. Anyways, the Mariners will be looking to close this thing out and go to their first-ever World
Both Championship Series will be in action this weekend, as the Blue Jays will be hoping to head to Seattle with a split against the Mariners, while the Brewers will be looking to assert dominance with home field advantage against the Dodgers. Trey Yesavage set the baseball world on fire after he managed to keep the Yankees extremely quiet during his Postseason debut.
