Griffin Wong gives you a preview, prediction and pick for tonight\u2019s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
The last time Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound at the Rogers Centre, it was a moment of jubilation, as fresh off of six innings of one-run ball in Game 6, he returned to the mound one night later to record the final seven outs of Game 7 to earn the win, the World Series MVP, and his second MLB title in as many seasons.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll do so again tonight when the Los Angeles Dodgers travel to face the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada\u2019s largest city, in the middle game of a three-game set. Los Angeles romped to victory, 14-2, last night.<\/p>\n
The Blue Jays will oppose Yamamoto with Kevin Gausman, whom the Japanese star out-dueled twice during the World Series.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays prediction, preview<\/p>\n Game 1 of the rematch series hardly could\u2019ve gone any more smoothly for the victors. The Dodgers raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before opening up the game completely in the third, fourth, and fifth, building a 6-1 advantage by the midway point of the game. Los Angeles was so thoroughly dominant, in fact, that it was able to turn to shortstop Miguel Rojas to pitch the ninth inning instead of unnecessarily burning a reliever. All in all, the Dodgers are off to an 8-2 record, with the league\u2019s best offense and (promisingly) the ninth-lowest bullpen ERA. They\u2019ll try to keep momentum going against the slumping Blue Jays, who have lost five straight games after getting swept by the woeful Chicago White Sox and have dropped to 4-6. Toronto\u2019s offense has still been okay, but its bullpen has imploded, and losing catcher Alejandro Kirk for several weeks with a thumb fracture will hurt both sides of the ball, given that Kirk was the second-best fielding catcher in baseball last season.<\/p>\n To be fair to the Blue Jays, Yamamoto hasn\u2019t had a great start to the season by his standards. He pitched six innings and gave up two runs in each of his first two starts, conceding a total of nine hits. While solid numbers, they pale in comparison to the two runs on 10 hits and two walks that he gave up over 17.2 innings in the World Series. His advanced numbers back up the notion of a slow start; he ranks in just the 16th percentile in fastball run value so far, and his expected batting average sits in just the 30th percentile after he finished in the 99th and 93rd percentiles in those stats last season. Still, there\u2019s little long term reason to be concerned; his splitter has been even better than it was last season, and his spin rates are up pretty much across the board. His four-seam fastball was one of the best pitches in baseball last season and has been one of the worst so far in 2025, but his meatball rate is down and his whiff rate is up. Where he\u2019s struggled this season, Toronto doesn\u2019t have the personnel to take advantage; he ranks in just the 43rd percentile in barrel rate, and the Blue Jays have recorded barrels at the fifth-lowest rate. They\u2019ve also struggled to find the launch angle sweet spot. Given his incredible road form (a 2.13 ERA last season), I\u2019d expect Yamamoto\u2019s floor to be six innings and two runs.<\/p>\n Still, Los Angeles shouldn\u2019t underestimate Gausman. The 35-year-old earned Cy Young Award votes in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and he\u2019s off to an incredible start so far, combining to give up just three hits and one earned run in 12.0 innings while walking none and striking out an MLB-leading 21. His advanced numbers are just as elite: he ranks in the top decile in four different Statcast categories, including strikeout and walk rate, and both his fastball and his off-speed stuff have been even more elite than they were last season, when his 12.2 innings and six earned runs in the World Series could\u2019ve been enough to out-duel most pitchers not named Yamamoto. To be fair, he struggles to induce grounders, and the Dodgers have been among the league\u2019s best at avoiding getting the ball up. They were also slightly better against right-handed pitchers, thanks to their litany of dominant lefties (most notably Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy). Ohtani and Tucker have both started to find their grooves as of late after a rough start to the season.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays pick, best bet<\/p>\n