World Series Top Questions: Blue Jays Close it Out? Dodgers Force a Game 7?

The Blue Jays are on the cusp of greatness. The Dodgers are on the brink of disappointment. 

Game 6 of the World Series will decide whether the Blue Jays will celebrate their first title in 32 years. But the Dodgers are trying to live another day, and will lean on their best pitcher of their postseason. 

We're answering the biggest storylines and questions – and making predictions – and how things will shake on Friday night. 

Thosar: After pitching back-to-back complete games in the postseason, I don’t see how the answer could be anyone but Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He is without a doubt the exact pitcher the Dodgers need on the mound to have a chance to push the World Series to Game 7. What should trouble the Blue Jays is, the last time Yamamoto got better as he went along. He’s so good at making in-game adjustments that he’s the only Dodgers starter that has thrown off Toronto’s otherwise airtight offensive approach. Rarely do they swing and miss or chase outside the zone, yet Yamamoto racked up eight strikeouts against the Jays.

Still, it was unfortunate that Kevin Gausman’s performance got overshadowed by Yamamoto’s in Game 2. He was excellent until the seventh inning, when he gave up a pair of solo shots to Will Smith and Max Muncy. Until that point, Gausman had retired 17 consecutive batters from the end of the first inning to the beginning of the seventh. I’m still expecting Gausman to be dominant in Game 6, but Yamamoto is just plain better. 

Kavner: It has to be Yamamoto, who’s coming off back-to-back complete games in the postseason. No pitcher has done that since Curt Schilling in 2001. Dating back to last year’s World Series, Yamamoto has a 1.54 ERA over his last five playoff starts. Gausman was terrific in Game 2