World Series Preview: Glasnow Looks to Continue October Excellence in Game Three

LOS ANGELES, CA—The World Series returns to Chavez Ravine for the first time since Games One and Two of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees.

Now, Los Angeles welcomes another American League East opponent, this time from our neighbors north of the border in the Toronto Blue Jays for Games Three, Four, and Five.

Despite losing Game One in a poor performance, 11-4, the Dodgers, led by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s complete game, evened the series at six. Los Angeles now has three straight home games, with a chance to clinch the World Series as Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Blake Snell are scheduled to pitch over the next three nights.

While the Dodgers’ offense has been inconsistent most of October, primarily because they’ve hit fewer home runs this October than other teams and themselves did this time last year, the team made up for it in a big way in Game Two.

Will Smith and Max Muncy each went yard, and the Dodgers took advantage of the Blue Jays’ mistakes to push across five runs on the board.

Now with an off day and three straight aces on the mound, the chips seem to be in favor of Los Angeles, but the games still have to be played.

The Dodgers return home to where they’ve had one of the best records in baseball this season, winning 52 of their 81 games at Chavez Ravine.

On the other end of the coin, the Blue Jays will be tasked with trying to win at least one game in Los Angeles, but that could be tough as the Jays posted the 11th-best road record this season at 40-41, leaving the Rogers Centre, where they posted the second-best record in the majors this season.

Pitching Probables

Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 0.68 ERA) vs Max Scherzer (1-0, 3.16 ERA)

On the mound for Los Angeles will be hometown product Tyler Glasnow, who, despite the doubters heading into October, has been elite down the stretch.

So far this postseason across three appearances, Glasnow has only allowed one earned run across 13.1 innings pitched, along with collecting 18 strikeouts in the process.

However, on Monday night, Glasnow will face his biggest test yet: the Toronto Blue Jays’ high-contact offense.

Like Snell, Glasnow relies on teams being aggressive outside the zone, which is where his slider and curveball play.

The Blue Jays, as they showed in Game One against Snell, are very controlled in chasing, as they were the league’s best offense in that respect this season, along with a low swinging strike percentage.

Glasnow has not had much success against the Blue Jays in his career, with 11 opportunities during his time with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Overall, Glasnow is 1-4 with a 5.82 ERA, but has had better success against Toronto with the Dodgers going 1-0 in two starts, allowing just three runs in 11.2 innings and punching out 17 Jays.

On the mound for the Blue Jays will be veteran right-hander Max Scherzer, who has been needed in the Blue Jays ’ starting rotation due to the season-ending injury to right-hander José Berríos.

In his career, Scherzer has posted fantastic numbers against the Dodgers, holding Los Angeles to just a 2.38 ERA across 19 appearances, but he’s only faced them one time since the 2023 season.

That lone start happened to be earlier this year during the Dodgers’ three-game series against Toronto in early August.

In that start, Max gave the Blue Jays a vintage performance, allowing just two runs in six innings, but ultimately took the loss as veteran lefty Clayton Kershaw delivered a vintage performance of his own.

Still, the numbers are the numbers, and this season, Max’s age showed.

The right-hander posted a 5.19 ERA across 17 starts this season, and in the second half, those numbers jumped even higher, with the righty posting a 5.37 ERA from July until the end of the season, along with a 10.20 ERA and 5.34 FIP in the final month of the regular season.

Still, Scherzer did put together a solid performance in the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners, tossing 5.2 innings and allowing just two runs.

Who to Watch

My Dodgers player to watch today will be left-handed slugger Max Muncy, who also homered in Game Two to help even up the World Series.

Muncy has decent numbers against Max Scherzer in his career, with a collective .235/.435/.412 slash line and a .847 OPS in 23 plate appearances, but has also clipped him with a home run and six walks.

Muncy and other left-handed hitters in the lineup will hopefully get to feed off right-handed Blue Jays starters, and an honorable mention would be Freddie Freeman, as he’s had the most looks at Scherzer due to his time as an Atlanta Brave.

Where to Watch

The 2025 World Series will be aired exclusively on FOX and the Fox Sports App at 5:00 PM PT (8:00 PM ET)

Betting Odds

The teams split the initial two games and now aim to break the tie to move closer to the championship with a win. The Blue Jays are underdogs on the moneyline at +162 against the Dodgers, who are favored at -196. Los Angeles is also the run-line favorite with -1.5. The total runs for the game are set at 8, with -105 odds on the over and -115 on the under.

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