Addison Barger hit the first grand slam in World Series history as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.
With an expectant crowd packed into Toronto's Rogers Center for Canada's first World Series game since 1993, the Blue Jays scored nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and cruised to an 11-4 victory.
Not even a home run from Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani could stop the defending champions from blushing as their American League rivals drew first blood in the best-of-seven series.
The Dodgers took the lead when Enrique Hernandez walked Teoscar Hernandez in the second inning before Will Smith did the same to Mookie Betts in the third.
But Toronto's Daulton Varsho tied the game 2-2 with a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the fourth.
The breakthrough in the sixth inning came when Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell was ejected after hitting Varsho with a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
Ernie Clement singled on pinch-hitter Emmett Sheehan to give Toronto the lead for the first time, Sheehan ran in and Andres Jimenez's line drive made it 5–2.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then replaced Sheehan with Anthony Banda on the mound, but it backfired spectacularly as Barger's grand slam cleared the bases before Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer of his own to make the score 11-2.
Ohtani marked his ability with a double in the seventh, but it was too little, too late for the National League champions.
Toronto tried to sign Ohtani, external before he moved across Los Angeles from the Angels to the Dodgers, but home fans chanted, “We don’t need him!” when he came out to fight again in the ninth round.
Game two will take place on Saturday night, also in Toronto, before the series moves to Los Angeles.
