George Springer will bat leadoff as the Toronto Blue Jays’ designated hitter in Game 6 on Friday night after being pulled earlier in the World Series due to right side discomfort.
Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette follow Springer in Toronto’s order against the Los Angeles Dodgers. A Game 6 win would clinch the Blue Jays’ first title since 1993, when they repeated as champions.
Lukes replaces Davis Schneider in left field. Bichette will make his third career start at second base as he grits through a knee injury.
Springer hurt himself swinging in Game 3 and missed the final 11 innings of that marathon contest, plus Games 4 and 5. His four postseason home runs include the three-run shot that eliminated the Seattle Mariners in the seventh game of the American League Championship Series.
Toronto weathered the slugger’s absence from Games 4 and 5 by outscoring the Dodgers 12-3 to take a 3-2 series lead.
“(Springer) means so much to us. The experience in these moments, what he’s already done for this team during the playoffs, has been so big for us,” Bichette told reporters before Game 6. “I think having him in the lineup probably calms us all down a little bit.”
Changes to the Dodgers’ lineup include the elevation of Freddie Freeman to third in the order, following Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith. Mookie Betts, in a 3-for-23 slump with no extra-base hits in the Fall Classic, was dropped to the cleanup slot.
Los Angeles also made a defensive shakeup, shifting Enrique Hernandez to left field, moving Tommy Edman to center field and inserting Miguel Rojas at second base. Rojas is the third Dodger to bat ninth in the series, a response to Andy Pages and Alex Call combining to hit 2-for-22 through five games.
The pitching matchup, a rematch of Game 2, pits Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman against Los Angeles righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose dominance (four hits, eight strikeouts, no walks over nine innings) sparked the Dodgers to a 5-1 win and evened the series.
