TORONTO — What felt like an encore to last autumn’s epic ended up as an unmistakable mismatch: the Los Angeles Dodgers trounced the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 on Monday night in a game that wound up more epilogue than sequel to the 2025 World Series.
Toronto’s reunion with October memories began on a sour note when Max Scherzer, who started for the Blue Jays as he did in Game 7, was knocked around and lasted just two innings because of forearm tendinitis. Scherzer surrendered an early homer to Teoscar Hernández and was followed by a parade of relievers who were consistently outmatched by a Dodgers lineup that finished with 17 hits and five homers. Young catcher Dalton Rushing belted two of those long balls as part of an offensive onslaught that put the game out of reach quickly.
Los Angeles starter Justin Wrobleski struck out key moments but issued four walks that the Blue Jays could not convert; Toronto managed only four hits before the ninth, three of which did not leave the infield and only one registered as a hard-hit ball. Ernie Clement supplied Toronto’s lone early run with an RBI bloop, while Shohei Ohtani added a solo shot for the Dodgers in the sixth. By the seventh inning the rout was clear enough that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began emptying his bench, and Roberts shrugged afterward that the anxiousness of Game 7 felt like “a 10 in October, and it was probably a one tonight.”
The loss deepens an early-season slump for the reigning American League champions, who fell to 4-6 after a rough week that included a dropped series to the Colorado Rockies and a sweep at the hands of the rebuilding Chicago White Sox. Manager John Schneider acknowledged the club’s struggles bluntly after the game: “It's no secret — it's not working right now,” he said, while adding that there is “ample time” to correct course and that the concern is better now than in midsummer.
Injuries have compounded Toronto’s uneven start. The Blue Jays are already missing veteran pitchers Shane Bieber and José Berríos, along with offseason pick-ups Cody Ponce and breakout right-hander Trey Yesavage. Catcher Alejandro Kirk, an All-Star presence behind the plate, is slated for surgery on a fractured thumb and is expected to be sidelined for at least a month — a loss Schneider conceded would be significant for the club’s defense and pitching staff comfort.
By contrast, Los Angeles looks to be peaking early. The Dodgers entered the game tied for the best record in baseball and boasting the league’s top run differential. Ohtani, after a slow beginning to the season, has three homers on the young year, and despite a brief absence for Mookie Betts with an oblique issue, Los Angeles’ depth carried the night. After the final out, Dodgers players took the field in a subdued celebration — a reminder that while the result was decisive, it was also an imperfect coda to one of last season’s most dramatic matchups.
Monday’s game underscored how different the trajectories of the two clubs are at this moment: last fall’s near-even championship duel has given way, for now, to a lopsided April victory that leaves Toronto searching for answers and Los Angeles affirming its status as an early-season powerhouse.