The Los Angeles Dodgers have finished first in the NL West every season since 2013 except for one, which came in 2021.
The Dodgers finished a game behind the 107-55 San Francisco Giants, and met them in the NLDS that same season. The Giants took the series to five games, and ultimately lost to the Dodgers.
The Giants fielded starting pitcher Kevin Gausman in two of the five games during that series, and lost both contests. Gausman, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, wants to take down the Dodgers on the biggest stage.
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“Yeah, for sure,” Gausman said when asked if he was glad to get another shot at the Dodgers. “But I would feel the same way if we were playing anybody. I want to win. It doesn’t matter who is over there. I still think about the check swing on Wilmer Flores. I don’t think it was a swing, but, you know, that’s kind of water under the bridge. And Max was pitching in that game, so it’s kind of full circle.
“Now I’ve got to know Max on a personal level, on a professional level, and I mean, what an unbelievable career he has had. If you’ve spent any time around him, like he has a baseball mind. He doesn’t stop. It’s non-stop. There’s definitely times I have to kind of distance myself from him at times because he’s just go, go, go all the time. But, no, I think I would have the same feeling if I was playing anybody.”
Gausman has been solid for the Blue Jays this postseason, posting a 2.00 ERA through four appearances, which span 18 innings. He is set to start Game 2 of the World Series in Toronto against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and will definitely have a chip on his shoulder after the outcome of the 2021 season.
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The Dodgers lost the opening game of the World Series at the Rogers Centre in a blowout, and will look to bounce back against the Blue Jays on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. PT.
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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3 Responses
Toronto pitcher is cheating chewing gum on purpose to use for better grip before pitching every ball. He is going to his mouth and on every pitch rubbing sticky saliva on ball. Umpires not catching it.
What, he’s still bothered by a checked swing call from 4 years ago? Huh? He might want to consider it was the umps that made that call, not the Dodgers.
Yea, I just went back and watched the game 5 highlights on YT. Clearly not a swing, but it was 0-2, nobody on base, and SF down by a run, 2-1. Even if called correctly as a check swing, the odds were stacked against them scoring against Scherzer, who was on as a closer only in the 9th inning that game. BTW, Gausman wasn’t the starter in 2 games. He started and lost game 2, a 9-2 LAD win and got the last 2 outs in the top of the 9th of game 5 after Doval gave up the Bellinger’s GW RBI to score Justin Turner. Webb pitched great for SF and I had forgotten was a BP game for LAD.