TORONTO — What a Game 7. What a World Series.
The Dodgers are champs again. And this time, they won it in unbelievably thrilling fashion. A game-tying home run from Miguel Rojas in the ninth. A game-winning home run from Will Smith in the 11th.
1. An instant classic of a Fall Classic
The best World Series since… when? Wherever it stacks up, it’ll go down as one of the all-time greats.
With Rojas’ game-tying home run in the top of the ninth inning. With Smith’s game-winning homer in the 11th. With the tying run, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left stranded at third base.
1960? 1991? 2001? 2011? Put this one right up there with the all-time best.
2. The Dodgers establish their dynasty
The Dodgers did not shy away from expectations in 2025. It was World Series or bust. And they didn’t bust.
With three titles in the last six seasons, the Dodgers are establishing themselves as a dynasty — with no end in sight. They have one of the most talented cores in the sport and now boast some serious championship pedigree. In each of their past two World Series runs, they won consecutive games while facing elimination (having also done so last year against the Padres in the NLDS).
There’s no doubt who will be the favorite entering 2026.
Just when you thought the legend of Yoshinobu Yamamoto couldn’t grow any larger, he went out and cemented his place in Dodgers history with the performance of a lifetime.
One night after silencing the Blue Jays across six innings of one-run ball to stave off elimination for Los Angeles in Game 6, the 27-year-old right-hander closed out Game 7 with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, becoming the first pitcher to pitch the very next game in a postseason series after going six or more innings the day prior since Randy Johnson, who pitched Games 6 and 7 of the 2001 World Series.
Yamamoto punctuated the outing by retiring the heart of the Blue Jays’ order in the 11th, with his game-ending double-play ball on Alejandro Kirk, clinching back-to-back world titles for the Dodgers.
4. This will sting in Toronto for a long, long time
Guerrero is a Blue Jay for the next decade-plus. He’s the cornerstone. Toronto ensured as much by inking him to a franchise-record $500 million contract extension at the outset of the season.
It set the tone for a remarkable year. The Blue Jays won the division, beat the Yankees in the AL Division Series, then won an all-time thriller of an ALCS against Seattle. But they came up short of winning the franchise’s first World Series in 32 years, and it’s now worth wondering how soon they can get back here.
There are questions — Bo Bichette is slated to be a free agent, George Springer is getting older. The AL East does not appear to be getting any easier. It was a magical run for the Jays in 2025. But was this the end of it? Or was this year’s playoff run the start of something bigger in Toronto?
