LOS ANGELES -- As Whit Merrifield rounded the bases following his three-run homer in the fifth inning on Wednesday afternoon, a noticeable “let’s go Blue Jays!” chant became audible in the stands at Dodger Stadium.

For Merrifield, who is approaching the one-year anniversary of the July 2022 trade that sent him from the Royals to the Blue Jays, it’s a new experience -- and one he enjoys. 

“It’s been a nice, pleasant surprise for me, going places on the road and having people cheer for you,” said Merrifield. “It’s been a pretty common theme, for the most part, everywhere we’ve gone. It seems we’ve had a nice little pocket of Blue Jays fans -- Seattle was a different animal -- but coming from there, I didn’t really expect to see a lot of Blue Jays fans in L.A. Sure enough, they popped up.”

A fan base that travels well and makes itself heard in opponents' ballparks is a calling card of tough, contending teams that inspire excitement everywhere they go -- and for these three games, the Blue Jays fit that bill. Going toe-to-toe with the stacked, NL West-leading Dodgers, Toronto took the finale, 8-1, locking down its first series victory at Dodger Stadium since June 2007 and bouncing back from a wild walk-off loss on Tuesday.

Before Wednesday’s one-sided victory, manager John Schneider referred to his club as “riding the roller coaster a little bit” in recent weeks, and that doubles as an apt descriptor of this series in Southern California.

Toronto could very well have swept the series, were it not for Tuesday’s late-inning heartbreak. On the other hand, the Blue Jays also could have come out on Wednesday sluggish from the night before and coasted through the finale, regrouping on the flight back home to Canada before taking on the Angels on Friday.

But they didn’t -- instead getting back up off the mat in a show of resilience to snatch a series from another team that sees itself as a World Series contender.

“Really proud of them,” said Schneider of his club’s effort. “That’s a huge bounce back. We’re talking about a series against a good team on the road. … Really proud of the way they came back today.”

On the mound, left-hander Yusei Kikuchi turned in six innings of seven-hit, one-run ball and found his way out of a few jams with a well-placed selection of pitches. Kikuchi logged a season-high 103 pitches, relying on his fastball for 50 of them, but peppering in 30 sliders and 19 curves -- which he used for the final strike in four of his eight strikeouts.

“Yusei, I think it started with him,” Schneider said. “He set the tone, pitched out of a couple jams, [got some] huge double-play balls.”

Kikuchi has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his last 11 outings for the pitching-rich Blue Jays, who have tallied 48 quality starts among six pitchers -- Chris Bassitt (14), Kevin Gausman (14), José Berríos (11), Kikuchi (6), Alek Manoah (3), good for fourth most in the Majors and third most in the AL.

“Just reminding myself to stay composed,” reflected Kikuchi through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “The fastball was really good today, I was able to ramp it up to 97. The breaking pitches I was able to throw, especially the slider, just missed barrels today.”

Given the star power and pedigree of Toronto’s offense, which on Wednesday featured another stellar day from Bo Bichette (who added to his AL-best hits tally with a 3-for-5 showing in his AL-leading 14th three-hit game), having a standout starting staff can only help the team’s hopes down the stretch.

The impending return of left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu from Tommy John surgery would serve as a perfect late-season acquisition, should Ryu come back at full strength and maximum efficiency. Whether the team opts to manage its arsenal of arms with a six-man rotation or find an alternative route, it’s a good problem to have. 

For a group that on paper has all the talent in the world but has run into difficulty seeing it coalesce into the consistent juggernaut it believes itself to be, series like this against the Dodgers can go a long way toward helping realize those lofty ambitions.

“I think we’re in a good spot still,” Kikuchi said. “Obviously, we still have a few games to catch up if we want to win the East, but yeah, the clubhouse atmosphere is fine right now. We have this goal of winning a championship together, that’s still in our heads.”