The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in an 18-inning World Series classic that will be talked about for decades to come.
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The improbable nature of the game featured a walk-off home run (from Freddie Freeman, of course), four scoreless innings from a relief pitcher who had just 23.2 innings of MLB experience under his belt to that point, and four intentional walks on superstar Shohei Ohtani.
As the game intensified, the walks continued for Ohtani, who would finish the night with five total bases on balls. After his second home run of the night, something that was unfortunately overlooked given the additional 11 innings played after his game-tying long ball in the seventh, Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke on his plan as to how he wants to pitch to Ohtani for the remainder of the Fall Classic, especially since Ohtani’s home run in the seventh was mere moments after a mound visit.
“Yeah, mound visit — you know, we’re trying to pitch around him,” Schneider said. “You trust Seranthony [Dominguez] to make pitches to do that. Sometimes for pitchers it’s hard to do that when you’re kind of trying to throw a ball and didn’t put it where you want to put it. But he had a great game, he’s great player, but I think after that, you just kind of take the bat out of his hands.”
Schneider knows that Ohtani isn’t the only Dodger to be feared with a bat in his hands and spoke on the pickle he is in when choosing his pitching strategies.
“His performance was really good,” Schneider said. “He’s arguably the best player on the planet, you know. I think you kind of react in real time a little bit. Again, man, they have a really talented lineup. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to just walk him and face Mookie and Freddie. So every situation is different. You got to really execute at a high level against him.”
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