Toronto Blue Jays take 3-2 lead over Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3

Toronto blueness Jays human face the Dodgers in L.A. This evening for biz 3, series is tied 1-1

A look inside Dodger Stadium ahead of World Series Game 3

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Addison Barger on his historic grand slam

The science of a perfect home run

The Blue Jays right fielder just saved his team a run, gunning down Freeman trying to score at the plate with a perfect throw at 98.5 mph.

Barger, of course, launched that pivotal pinch-hit grand slam in Game 1.

But that play to end the third inning could prove just as big if the Blue Jays are able to turn around this two-run deficit.

In any case, the 25-year-old certainly doesn’t seem afraid of the moment.

The Dodgers' Betts came to the plate in the top of the third with one out and the bases empty, after Ohtani's solo home run.

Betts hit a fly ball, which the Jays' Lukes fielded for a second out.

Freeman came to bat and drew a walk, putting one runner aboard with two out.

Smith, who hit a home run in Saturday's Game 2, worked Scherzer to a full count and Freeman stole second base during the at-bat.

Smith finally hit a single, which Barger fielded and then threw out Freeman at home, to end the inning.

Ohtani was (mostly) eerily quiet for two games in Toronto. Not so much anymore.

The Japanese superstar got his hands inside of a high fastball and rocked it to right field for his second homer of the series in the third inning.

He also doubled earlier in the game, and the beast may have been awoken.

Meanwhile, home runs are once again burning Blue Jays pitching. Scherzer allowed 19 in just 85 regular-season innings, and has now surrendered two in this game.

Andy Pages hit a pop fly that was caught by Toronto's Bichette to start off the bottom of the third, giving the Jays their first out.

Ohtani was up next — and he burned Scherzer with a solo home run, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

At the top of the third inning, Toronto's Andrés Giménez hit a ground ball to second, which Edman fielded and threw to first to get the out.

That meant the Jays were back to the top of the order, with Springer returning to bat for the second time in the game. But he grounded out to the shortstop, giving the Dodgers their second out.

Lukes battled in his own at-bat, fouling off two pitches, but ultimately struck out to end the top of the third.

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young winner, doesn’t present the same challenge now that he did in his prime. But we saw in his American League Championship Series start against the Seattle Mariners that Mad Max’s intensity still burns bright — and that he can still summon the performance to match.

As of tonight, he’s the first player in MLB history to pitch for four different teams in the World Series.

If there’s one guarantee tonight, it’s that the grizzled veteran will empty the clip for, perhaps, one last shot at glory.

Right after giving up the solo home run, Scherzer struck out Tommy Edman to get a second out.

Enrique Hernández then came to the plate. He got to a 2-2 count before fouling off several pitches. But he, too, struck out.

That allowed Scherzer to get out of the inning without any more Dodger runs on the scoreboard.

The Dodgers lead 1-0, heading into the third inning.

Remember Hernández? The smiley, sunflower-seed throwing outfielder?

Well, he struggled mightily in the first two games of this series, whiffing plenty. But he showed he can capitalize on mistakes by Scherzer, when he sent a hanging slider deep into the left-field seats.

That boom-or-bust quality is part of why the Blue Jays traded Hernández after 2022 in an attempt to change their identity.

Now, the boom has put the Blue Jays on the ropes early in Game 3.

Max Muncy hit a fly ball to the outfield to start the bottom of the second, giving Scherzer a quick out.

Teoscar Hernández, a former Blue Jay, then hit a solo home run to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

No one wants umpires to become the story.

But a missed call agaist Daulton Varsho that should have been ball four, combined with a base-running blunder from Bichette, who assumed that it would indeed be a walk and started jogging toward second, thrust home-plate ump Mark Wegner into the spotlight.

The out proved crucial when the Jays stranded two runners on base, missing a key early opportunity in the second inning.

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