Toronto – Injured Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer is on track to play in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday, Toronto manager John Schneider said.

Springer, who strained muscles on his right side while taking a swing in Game 3, was actually close to playing in Game 5 on Wednesday night, Schneider said Thursday.

“He was right on the fence,” Schneider said of Springer’s status for Game 5, a 6-1 Toronto win that gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I think he probably could have. I was really juggling what’s best for him, what’s best for the team, not just immediately to start the game, but kind of how that game may unfold too.”

The 36-year-old slugger immediately left the game after the first pitch of a plate appearance in the seventh inning on Monday night. Springer didn’t play in Game 4.

Schneider said Springer had “kind of checked every box physically so far,” putting him in position to play Friday’s potential clincher.

“Just making sure he feels comfortable and confident tomorrow, and not just for one at-bat, to go in and compete and kind of get locked into a game,” Schneider said.

Springer worked out in the batting cage and again on the field before Game 5. He appeared to be preparing to pinch-run for Bo Bichette in the ninth inning, but Bichette grounded out.

“He was close, and he was ready to come in, and I’m glad we didn’t need him and got him an extra couple days,” Schneider said. “Hopefully he’s good to go (Friday).”

Springer has the second-most leadoff homers in major league history with 63, trailing only Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s 81.

Springer hit a three-run homer in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle on Oct. 20, playing a major role in sending the Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993.

That came three days after he was struck on the right kneecap by a 95.6 mph pitch from Seattle’s Bryan Woo during the ALCS, forcing him out of Game 5. Springer returned in Game 6.

Springer was the World Series MVP for the Houston Astros in 2017, when he tied a Series record by hitting five homers against the Dodgers. Los Angeles fans have booed him at Dodger Stadium since that Astros title was later tainted by the revelation of their illegal sign stealing.

Ohtani could pitch in Game 7

Toronto – Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will consider using Shohei Ohtani as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7 if Los Angeles forces the World Series against Toronto to the limit.

The two-way star threw 93 pitches in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Game 4 and could be available as a reliever this weekend in Toronto.

However, if Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting the game as a designated hitter, the Dodgers would lose their DH. He can remain in the game as a DH if he also is the starting pitcher.

“I think we would consider everything,” Roberts said Thursday, a day ahead of Game 6. “It’s more of just kind of doing whatever we can to get through tomorrow and then pick up the pieces and then see what’s the best way to attack a potential Game 7. So everything should be on the table and will be, for sure.”

Roberts said he planned to discuss options with Ohtani later Thursday.

Ohtani has never pitched in relief during his Major League Baseball career. He made a handful of relief appearances in Japan for the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, mostly as a rookie in 2013. He closed out Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final against the United States, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out.

Ohtani took on-field batting practice Thursday, which he rarely does, appearing to hit balls off the hotel behind center field.

He is batting .250 with eight homers, 14 RBIs and 14 walks in the postseason for a 1.109 OPS and is 2-1 on the mound with a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.

If Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting as a DH, he would need to play a position to remain in the game once his mound appearance is over.

He made seven outfield appearances with the Angels in 2021, the year before a rule was changed allowing starting pitchers to stay in games at DH after being removed from mound appearances.

Jays-Dodgers draw 14.81M viewers

Los Angeles – The Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night averaged 14.81 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, according to Nielsen.

That made it the most-watched game of this year’s Fall Classic and the second most-viewed Game 4 since 2018. Last year’s fourth game between the Dodgers and New York Yankees averaged 16.28 million.

According to Fox, the audience in the U.S. peaked at 16.7 million during the late innings (10-10:15 p.m. EDT).

While it was going to be tough for this year’s series to surpass last year’s numbers for the first Dodgers-Yankees World Series since 1981, it is outperforming other years.

The four-game average of 12.16 million is ahead of the record-low 9.11 million for the five-game series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 and the 11.79 million six-game average for Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.

Last year’s series was averaging 14.98 million U.S. viewers through four games, the highest since 2017.

The combined average viewership in the U.S. and Canada for Tuesday’s game was 21.5 million, the most-watched World Series game when combining the two countries since the deciding game of the 2019 series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros.

Through four games, the World Series is averaging 19.3 million combined viewers in the U.S. and Canada, a 23% jump and the most-watched since 2016 between Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs.

Blue Jays games in Canada are being aired on Sportsnet. The network is owned by Rogers Communications Inc., the parent company of the Blue Jays.

Game 3-5 ratings for Japan are expected to be released by Major League Baseball on Friday. The Japanese average for the first two games was 10.7 million.

Schneider goes barefoot in the park

Toronto – A day before playing for a World Series title, Davis Schneider went barefoot in the park.

Toronto players arrived at Rogers Centre at about 8 a.m. Thursday after a red-eye flight from Los Angeles that followed their 6-1 win over the Dodgers. By late afternoon, Schneider was ambling about the nearly empty ballpark, which will be filled to capacity Friday night with fans hungering to witness Toronto’s first title since 1993. He wore a tank top and ski cap, with no shoes.

“Walking around the outfield, get a feel of the grass, or turf I should say,” he explained. “I try to do that every single day, just walk around and get my body going.”

Schneider’s home run on Blake Snell’s first pitch launched Toronto to Wednesday’s victory that gave it a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven matchup. While for Games 1 and 2 last week Schneider had one of the 55 rooms with a view of the field at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, he was given regular lodging when he checked back in.

Addison Barger, the teammate who slept on Schneider’s sofa bed during the first leg, didn’t remain his roomie this weekend.

“He has the money to get his own room,” Schneider quipped. “He could have stayed, but he didn’t.”

Heavily favored Los Angeles is seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three in a row. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Friday for the Dodgers and Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays in a rematch of Game 2.

Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer appeared set to return for the first time since hurting his right side while swinging in Game 3.

Yamamoto pitched a four-hitter for the first World Series complete game since 2015 and has thrown the first consecutive postseason complete games since Curt Schilling tossed three in a row in 2001.

“It did give me a certain level of confidence, but now my mind is reset and then just focusing on the new game,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter.

Gausman matched him until the seventh inning, when Will Smith and Max Muncy hit solo homers for a 3-1 lead.

“Rogers Centre is going to be fun. It’s going to be electric,” Gausman said. “It’s going to be everything that it has been for the last month and probably more.”

Toronto had three days off after a seven-game American League Championship Series win over Seattle and the Dodgers six days off after sweeping Milwaukee for the National League pennant.

Since the LCS expanded to best-of-seven in 1985, all four prior teams advancing from seven-game LCS defeated pennant winners who emerged from sweeps: the 1988 Dodgers (two days off) against Oakland (five), the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (one) vs. Detroit (six), the 2007 Boston Red Sox (two) against Colorado (eight) and the 2012 San Francisco Giants (one) against the Tigers (five).

Manager Dave Roberts wouldn’t say the layoff caused a hitting slump.

“Even if it was, I wouldn’t say it was,” he said with a smile.

After three games at sunny Dodger Stadium, where the game-time temperature Wednesday was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius), the Series moved back to Toronto, a city framed by tree leaves that had turned to autumn red, orange and yellow. The roof was closed for Thursday’s workout – it was raining outside with a 46-degree temperature (7 Celsius).

Blue Jays manager John Schneider watched “Den of Thieves” on the flight, drank a beer, then hopped into the cold tub by the Blue Jays clubhouse.

“A little cold plunge to kind of get you going a little bit,” he said. “It didn’t work.”

Shohei Ohtani will try to shake off a cold bat. After reaching base nine times in Game 3 on four extra-base hits and five walks, he was 0 for 7 with a walk in the Dodgers’ last two losses.

“We’re locating better and kind of giving him different looks, different pitch types, different velocities, different locations,” John Schneider said.

Dodgers players arrived about 7 a.m. while staff stayed in LA overnight and traveled Thursday. Roberts said while Thursday’s workout was voluntary, every player attended.

With his team hitting .201 against the Blue Jays, Roberts is considering more lineup changes. He dropped Mookie Betts to third in the batting order in Game 5 and benched center fielder Andy Pages.

“I’m contemplating, but I’m still kind of up in the air,” he said.

He also would consider using Ohtani as an opener, reliever or outfielder in a Game 7.

Most Blue Jays didn’t take the field, and players throwing were outnumbered by their children pitching to each other by the warning track.

Encouraged by the kids, John Schneider made dozens of attempts to throw a baseball to a person on the third-highest level of the hotel’s four floors overlooking the field, about 150 feet up. When he finally succeeded, Schneider raised his arms in triumph, then collapsed in mock exhaustion.

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