LOS ANGELES — We have the first controversial outing of the 2025 World Series, a strike signal that has the Blue Jays base in disarray.
In the top of the second inning, with a 3-1 plate count on Dalton Varsho and Bo Bichette standing first, a pitch thrown by Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow looked high and out of fourth-ball territory, so Varsho turned around, hesitated, and threw his bat toward the Blue Jays dugout.
Not so fast. When Washoe's bat left his hand, home plate umpire Mark Wegner signaled a double, and Bichette had followed Washoe's lead and bounced off first base, thinking Washoe had walked. Bichette was called out after Glasnow's quick throw to first base. Washoe eventually drew a walk, but the Blue Jays ended up stranding runners on the corners, and they went scoreless in an inning with the walk sandwiched between two singles.
“I think [Bichette] Blue Jays manager John Schneider told Fox News, “I think the runner's assumption was obviously that the umpire told Walsh it was a ball — to have him throw the bat like that. “So it was a strange play. You don't want it to come back to bite you, but you want the players to decide what happened. “
It was a big blow to the Blue Jays, who could have scored one run and allowed Glasnow to throw more than the 26 pitches they forced through two innings. If this strong Dodgers team has a weakness, it's their bullpen, so the Blue Jays' No. 1 goal this series is to go after the starters.
“Mark is a great referee and has been doing it for a long time,” Schneider said. “The call was very delayed, very deliberate. He just didn't say anything, so Varsh thought it was a ball and Bo thought it was. I just asked him, in this environment, if he could be a little quicker or speak a little clearer so everyone knew what was going on.”
The moment also killed some early momentum for Bichette, who hit a 3-1 sinker up the middle and singled to linebacker, an encouraging sign as the star shortstop, who played second base in the Fall Classic, is trying to continue playing while not yet at 100 percent with a sprained left knee.