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MLB 2025 World Series Will Smith celebrates hitting a solo home run during the 11th inning in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images By Mitch Bannon, Fabian Ardaya and Tyler Kepner For the first time in 25 years, baseball has a repeat champion, as the Los Angeles Dodgers — on two of the most memorable home runs in World Series history — came back to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7. It was a game that included everything. Balls that soared over the wall and changed everything, a win for Yoshinobu Yamamoto one day after he threw 96 pitches and won Game 6, mind-blowing defensive plays. Both benches even cleared at one point. The result was familiar, though: a Dodgers triumph. Advertisement After Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, Miguel Rojas was among the last Dodgers to linger on the field. It had been a circuitous 12 years for him, from signing with the Dodgers as a minor-league free agent after being let go by the Cincinnati Reds, to debuting as a utility player and hero in Clayton Kershaw’s 2014 no-hitter, to being dealt away to the Miami Marlins in one of Andrew Friedman’s first moves running Dodgers baseball operations. He returned in 2023, was the emergency everyday shortstop that season and has been a valued veteran in a star-laden clubhouse. His start in Game 6 of this series was his first in 25 days. He will be a free agent at year’s end for the first time ahead of what he’s already said will be his final season. In Game 7, it was his swing in the ninth inning off Jeff Hoffman that kept the Dodgers alive, and his slick defensive play with the bases loaded and one out, firing home just in time to once again come through at the biggest moment. — Fabian Ardaya, Dodgers beat writer MIGUEL ROJAS WITH THE BIGGEST SWING OF HIS LIFE ? GAME 7 IS TIED IN TORONTO pic. twitter. com/t Dw UGz Br Vq — MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025 Bo Bichette watched. Held out because of his busted knee, Bichette watched Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pound the New York Yankees in the ALDS. He watched George Springer’s series-winning blast in the ALCS. He was relegated to spectator for almost the entire Blue Jays postseason push, as his teammates authored October moments. In the third inning, Bichette watched once more. He stood in the box, letting the bat knob slip out of his hand as he stared at the scorched ball sailing 442 feet through the air. His moment arrived in the biggest game of his life and the most significant contest of the Blue Jays’ season. He sent fans into raucous pandemonium before starting his jog, on one healthy knee, around the bases. Advertisement Bichette is a pending free agent. He’s talked about wanting to stay in Toronto for the rest of his life. But, before Game 6, the infielder acknowledged that at times this year, he’d thought about this potentially being the end of his Toronto tenure. If Game 7 ends up being Bichette’s last with the Jays, he ended with the biggest of bangs. But it wasn’t enough. Removed for a pinch runner late, he ended the game as his October started: watching. — Mitch Bannon, Blue Jays beat writer Red warning signs could have gone off in the first inning for Shohei Ohtani, who touched 99 mph in the frame but struggled to locate any of his secondary offerings. The adrenaline clearly got his velocity up while pitching on short rest for the first time since a second elbow ligament reconstruction, but fatigue has a greater effect on command. He was able to locate just three of his nine non-fastballs in the strike zone in his first inning of work, dealing with traffic after a Springer leadoff single. He had to work through a bases-loaded jam in the second inning that required his simply reaching back and blowing a fastball past Andrés Giménez. Ohtani returned to face the Blue Jays’ lineup a second time anyway. He lasted four batters, which included spiking a splitter for a wild pitch. The final blow: a hanging slider that Bichette pummeled out to center. — Ardaya Guerrero bounced to his feet, throwing both fists together as he roared. The first baseman kept screaming as he ran to Toronto’s dugout, a chain flailing around his neck. Guerrero ended the top of the fourth inning with a diving catch into foul territory, repeating Daulton Varsho’s defensive brilliance from moments before. With the Dodgers loading the bases, Varsho sprinted in on a sinking line drive. Had the ball sneaked under Varsho’s glove on his diving attempt, it could’ve cleared the bases and erased Toronto’s lead. Instead, the Gold Glove outfielder picked it off the turf to snatch an out. For a team that built a core on fielding excellence, Toronto’s gloves arrived on the biggest stage. With two stolen outs in the fourth inning alone, the Jays escaped a jam holding a 3-1 lead. But, ultimately, the Jays couldn’t catch balls over the wall. Advertisement The Dodgers’ gloves — along with their late-game power surge — helped give them the final edge. Rojas’ play in the ninth was fantastic, but then Andy Pages one-upped him with a leaping catch on Ernie Clement’s long drive to left-center while colliding with Kiké Hernández. — Bannon OH MY GOODNESS WE ARE GOING TO EXTRAS pic. twitter. com/r3I9Swj4gg — MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025 So how would Addison Barger handle the aftermath of his base-running mishap that ended Game 6? It sure didn’t hurt his hitting. Barger, bumped up to fifth in the Blue Jays’ lineup, singled off Ohtani in his first at-bat and greeted Justin Wrobleski with a single in his next. Barger — a career . 229 hitter — batted . 480 in the World Series and led both teams in hits with 12. He nearly tied the record for hits in a World Series — 13, shared by Bobby Richardson (1960), Lou Brock (1968) and Marty Barrett (1986). All of those efforts came for the losing team. — Tyler Kepner, national MLB writer It’s hard to fault the Dodgers’ approach in building innings. They struck three balls 100 mph in the first inning off of Max Scherzer, then really stressed him in the fourth to load the bases. They were aggressive, even if it meant keeping Scherzer’s pitch count down — he’d wind up throwing only 54 pitches over 4 1/3 innings. They just never got the big hit to knock him out of the game — partially because of the Blue Jays’ glovework behind him in the fourth. The chances kept coming against Toronto’s relievers, but they couldn’t do more than just chip away. Louis Varland’s fifth time facing the Dodgers this series stranded a pair of base runners. Chris Bassitt avoided disaster, getting Rojas to ground out with two on, two out and Ohtani on deck. That allowed the Blue Jays to go to rookie Trey Yesavage in an ideal spot. Yesavage fell behind in the count to all three batters he faced and still put up a zero when Freddie Freeman grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Dodgers’ offense was a problem for most of Game 7 … until it wasn’t. — Ardaya The instant Game 6 ended, it was clear every arm would be available for Game 7. Every asset could be used at any moment. The Jays unleashed them all. Advertisement After Scherzer’s 4 1/3 innings, manager John Schneider handed the ball from deadline acquisition Varland to former starter Bassitt to rookie Yesavage. Then, Hoffman was tasked with the last out of the eighth inning and then the ninth. When the games mattered most and the season rested on the line, Hoffman remained the guy. Tasked with four outs, Hoffman inched Rogers Centre closer to an explosive celebration. Then, two outs away, Rojas unleashed a homer. He silenced the crowd. So the chaos kept coming. The Jays turned to Seranthony Domínguez, who warmed up three times earlier in the game. The righty escaped a stressful bases-loaded jam in the 10th before the game turned to another starter, Shane Bieber. After handling his first two batters, Bieber left a slider over the heart of the plate. Will Smith sent it to the same left-field seats that Rojas’ homer arrived in two innings before. It filled the stadium, once again, with silence. It was the final blow. — Bannon Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle