TORONTO –– Maybe the Blue Jays’ fans should have been more mean.
In the Dodgers’ first trip back to Toronto since last year’s epic World Series, the team was greeted with a largely hostile reaction from the Rogers Centre crowd.
Shohei Ohtani was profusely booed, now two years removed from spurring the Blue Jays in free agency. Kyle Tucker got the same treatment, after also picking L.A. over Toronto as the top free agent in this past winter’s class.
And on the whole, there was little goodwill paid to the club as a whole, after their triumph here in Game 7 last November.
The only exceptions: Freddie Freeman, beloved for his Canadian heritage and representation of the country in the World Baseball Classic; and Teoscar Hernández, a former fan favorite outfielder who played for the Blue Jays from 2017-2022.
In the Dodgers’ 14-2 win on Monday night, however, those were the two players who elicited the most groans.
In the top of the first, Hernández hooked a two-run homer inside the left-field foul pole. Two innings later, Freddie Freeman nearly cleared the right-field bleachers with a two-run blast of his own.
That marked the start of another big night for the Dodgers’ surging offense, which recorded its third double-digit scoring effort in the past four days with a 17-hit onslaught that featured runs in all but two innings.
And while Freeman (who finished 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs, tying the early MLB lead with 12 on the season) and Hernández (2-for-5 with a walk and four RBIs) led the way, almost every other hitter in the lineup produced.
Ohtani had two hits, including a sixth-inning home run that elicited more boos. Tucker reached base three times (a single and two walks) and scored on every occasion. Max Muncy and reigning National League Player of the Week Andy Pages both had two hits, lifting Pages’ early batting average to an MLB-best .474.
And then there was backup catcher Dalton Rushing, who started for a second-straight day so Will Smith can catch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani the next two nights, and capitalized by going 4-for-4 with two home runs and a hit-by-pitch. He has reached safely six-straight times going back to a homer he hit Sunday.
What it means
New season, same result in this World Series rematch.
Monday might’ve lacked the dramatics of last year’s Game 7, and it certainly didn’t contain the same emotional stakes.
But, it nonetheless gave the club a chance to reflect before first pitch: “Obviously, a lot of great memories,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Then, it set the stage for their most emphatic early-season victory –– giving them 45 total runs through this road trip’s first four games.
With the victory, the Dodgers also improved to 8-2, good for the best 10-game record in the majors and a quick three-game lead in the NL West.
Who’s hot
Hernández did not start the season with his power stroke.
Up until the fifth inning Saturday, all seven of his opening-week hits had been singles. Six came on ground balls, and three never even left the infield.
The last several days, however, have been a different story, with Hernández doubling late in Saturday’s game, hitting his first home run of the season Sunday, then going deep again to open the scoring Monday –– on a hanging slider Max Scherzer left over the heart of the plate.
By the end of the night, which also included a two-run single in the seventh, Hernández’s early-season batting average was up to .353, second-best among qualified hitters on the team behind only the red-hot Pages.
Who’s not
The Blue Jays.
After starting their defense of the American League pennant with a season-opening sweep of the Athletics, the club has not resembled the one that pushed the Dodgers to the brink last fall.
They dropped a home series to the woebegone Colorado Rockies last week, then were swept by the (almost) equally hapless Chicago White Sox this past weekend. They did nothing but help the Dodgers on Monday, making two errors and watching all five of their pitchers give up runs.
Even worse, Scherzer was pulled from his start after just two innings, with the 41-year-old’s velocity looking noticeably down. Oh, and starting catcher Alejandro Kirk is set for thumb surgery Tuesday.
Up next
The Dodgers and Blue Jays continue their series Tuesday night, when Yamamoto (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will face Kevin Gausman (0-0, 0.75 ERA). Yamamoto flipped spots in the Dodgers’ rotation this week with Shohei Ohtani, so that Ohtani could get an extra day of rest before pitching ahead of an off-day Wednesday.