Barger, Varsho and Kirk lead homer barrage as Blue Jays rout Dodgers 11-4 in World Series opener

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger watches his grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning of Event of baseball's World Series in Toronto Friday Oct Frank Gunn The Canadian Press via AP AP Frank Gunn Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger watches his grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning of Contest of baseball's World Series in Toronto Friday Oct Frank Gunn The Canadian Press via AP AP Frank Gunn TORONTO AP Blue Jays fans waited years to let loose cheering a World Series home run They got to do it three times Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in Fall Classic history Alejandro Kirk followed with a two-run homer in a nine-run sixth inning and Toronto overwhelmed the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers - in Friday night s opener Just madness Barger revealed of the third-highest-scoring inning in Series annals Daulton Varsho limited by injuries to games during the season started Toronto s comeback from a - deficit with a two-run drive in the fourth off two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell The longball barrage was fitting as the Fall Classic returned to Toronto for the first time since when Joe Carter hit the second walk-off homer to end a World Series And in an uncommon tie to that night Varsho is named after Darren Daulton the Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mitch Williams was throwing to when Carter connected It s kind of a surreal moment kind of being full circle for me Yeah it s honestly an honor to be named after him Varsho mentioned Shohei Ohtani hit his first Series home run for the heavily favored Dodgers seeking to become the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees took three titles in a row from - Los Angeles was trailing by nine when he went deep off Braydon Fisher for a two-run shot in the seventh his fourth homer in two games Fans angry that Ohtani spurned the Blue Jays to sign a million contract with the Dodgers in December chanted We don t need you when he came to the plate in the ninth Don t poke the bear Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt warned Competition winners have won of the last titles Contest in the best-of-seven series is Saturday night at Rogers Centre Playing after a one-week layoff following its National League Championship Series sweep Los Angeles took a - lead against -year-old rookie Trey Yesavage on RBI singles by Kik Hern ndez in the second and Will Smith in the third Yesavage made his fourth postseason start one more than his regular-season career total At years days old he became the second-youngest pitcher to start a World Series opener behind Brooklyn s Ralph Branca at years days in at Yankee Stadium Yesavage lasted four innings before a raucous crowd of He left the bases loaded in the second by retiring Ohtani on a groundout and stranded a runner at third the next inning when he struck out Max Muncy It was an insane experience that I ll remember for the rest of my life revealed Yesavage whose first start this season was in front fans for Class-A Dunedin in Jupiter Florida Dodgers star Mookie Betts called the second inning the turning point in the competition even though it was early If you want to win you need to cash it in he explained Seranthony Dom nguez got the win with hitless innings Varsho s homer was the first off Snell by a left-handed hitter since Juan Soto connected for the Yankees on June last year Snell gave up a career-high five hits on changeups and allowed five runs eight hits and three walks in five-plus innings There s no excuses I need to be better I need to throw strikes announced Snell who hadn t pitched since Oct Snell was in the Series for the first time since with Tampa Bay when he was removed in the sixth inning of Championship while pitching a shutout against the Dodgers Los Angeles rallied against the Rays bullpen for its first championship since Now the Dodgers are chasing their third title in six years Coming off a seven-game ALCS against Seattle that ended Monday Toronto got hits and key contributions from Bo Bichette and Varsho who combined with Vladimir Guerrero Jr to become the first trio of sons of former major leaguers to start for one unit in a Series event Returning from a sprained left knee that had sidelined him since Sept Bichette played second base for the first time in six years and favored the knee He singled in the first ranged to the left side of the infield to field a grounder and save a run then with the sum - drew a full-count walk from Snell starting the sixth Twelve batters went to the plate in the inning Ernie Clement singled off reliever Emmet Sheehan for a - lead pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes drew a bases-loaded walk and Andr s Gim nez added an RBI single Given a heads up he might pinch hit Barger went to the Trajekt machine and took swings off pitches emulating Sheehan s Then the Dodgers brought in left-hander Anthony Banda and Barger hit a -foot drive to right-center on a hanging slider to put Toronto ahead - Barger had spent Thursday night on the pullout couch of teammate Davis Schneider because Barger needed his own apartment for family attending the Series I looked over and I just see him just sleeping there in the middle of the night Schneider stated He s a head circumstance but he s funny Kirk who singled off the right-field wall a pitch before Varsho s homer capped the outburst with his fourth home run of the postseason and third hit of the battle You got to just flush it Banda noted get ready for the coming day Up next Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman start Saturday night Yamamoto won Meeting of the Series last year allowing one run and one hit over innings in a - mastery over the Yankees He is coming off the first postseason complete competition in eight years a three-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS Gausman will be making his Series debut AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source