This is the fourth and final story in a series looking back at the great Dodger moments of 2025.
Previous stories:
Top 10: The longest home runs by the Dodgers in 2025
10 memorable Dodger defensive plays from 2025
The most game-changing hits by the Dodgers in 2025
by Mark Langill
When shortstop Mookie Betts turned a double play on a broken-bat grounder by Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk in Game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 1, the epic 5–4 victory in 11 innings capped the Dodgers’ 33-day postseason journey that culminated with the Dodgers’ second consecutive championship.
As the unquenchable thirst for another title sits atop the holiday wish list among the Dodgers and their fan base for 2026, here are some of the most memorable moments to savor from the 2025 postseason in which the Dodgers went 13–4 and achieved a second straight World Series championship.
Teoscar Hernández’s Silencer in Philly
The axiom “there’s no place like home” may ring true, but successful out-of-town business trips are necessary on any journey to a championship.
Opening a best-of-five series on the road on Oct. 4, the Dodgers erased Philadelphia’s home-field advantage with a 5–3 victory in Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park. Hernández’s three-run homer in the seventh inning off Matt Strahm gave the Dodgers a 5–3 lead.
It was the fifth go-ahead postseason home run in the seventh inning or later in franchise history. The others are: Freddie Freeman (2024 World Series Game 1), Justin Turner (2018 NLCS Game 2), Juan Uribe (2013 NLDS Game 4) and Kirk Gibson (1988 World Series Game 1).
The eventual 5–3 victory showed the baseball world the Dodgers didn’t have a glass jaw in the first round of their title defense.
Sasaki the Reliever Keys NLDS Game 4
The late addition to the Dodger bandwagon began the season as a starting pitcher. When it looked like Roki Sasaki’s rookie season would end because of injury, he reinvented himself as a closer.
Sidelined since May 9, Sasaki was added to the Dodger postseason roster after one-inning auditions on Sept. 24 in Arizona and Sept. 26 in Seattle. In each scoreless frame, Sasaki had two strikeouts.
Sasaki pitched three scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ Division Series-clinching 2–1 victory over the Phillies in 11 innings.
Overall, the Dodgers were 9–0 in the postseason when Sasaki pitched. He compiled a 0.84 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with three saves and two holds.
The NLDS Walk-Off
The momentum of the NLDS swung in Philadelphia’s direction after the Phillies’ 8–2 victory in Game 3. After avoiding a three-game sweep, the Phillies could suddenly look ahead to a potential Game 5 back home.
The Dodgers’ last chance to take care of business at home in Game 4 turned into a nailbiter as a 1–1 standoff stretched into extra innings.
When the Dodgers loaded the bases in the 11th inning, it was a chance for Andy Pages to deliver the big hit. He was mired in a 1-for-14 slump.
Technically, Pages didn’t get a hit. But hitting the ball — even what seemed like a routine grounder to the pitcher’s mound — brought a sudden and dramatic end to the series.
Reliever Orion Kerkering fumbled the ball. Catcher J.T. Realmuto pointed to first base, but Kerkering’s rushed throw sailed past Realmuto, allowing pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim to score. The Dodgers were headed to Milwaukee for the NLCS.
Blake Snell’s NLCS Gem
When the Dodgers signed the two-time Cy Young Award winner as a free agent before the 2025 season, they envisioned the left-hander feeling at home on the biggest stage in October.
Snell delivered in Game 1 of the NLCS in Milwaukee. While pitching eight scoreless innings, Snell became the first pitcher to face the minimum 24 batters since the Yankees’ Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The 2–1 victory set the tone as the Dodgers swept the Brewers in four games.
Snell, who also dominated his NLDS Game 2 start at Philadelphia, became the first player in history with multiple outings of allowing one hit over at least six innings in a single postseason.
Shohei Ohtani Is a Two-Way Sensation in NLCS Game 4
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy was philosophical after his team was swept in the NLCS, capped by a 5–1 loss in Game 4 at Dodger Stadium in which Ohtani struck out 10 batters in six innings and hit three home runs.
“We were part of an iconic, maybe the best individual performance ever in a postseason game,” Murphy said. “I don’t think anybody can argue with that. A guy punches out 10 and hits three homers.”
For the Dodgers, winning a second consecutive NL pennant somehow took a back seat to comprehending what Ohtani had accomplished. One of his home runs cleared the pavilion roof. Ohtani joined Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (1997) as the only Dodgers to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium.
“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time.” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s been a lot of postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet.
“What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people. So for us to have a game-clinching — to do it in a game-clinching game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, pretty special. I’m just happy to be able to go along for the ride.”
Clayton Kershaw’s Final Out
His last act on the pitcher’s mound wasn’t like his past milestones in 2025 that invoked a tip of the cap and a wave to the crowd.
This time, Kershaw was the picture of intensity. The Dodgers needed their retiring ace to retire one batter. One last time.
An 18-inning marathon in Game 3 of the World Series forced both the Dodgers and Blue Jays to empty their bullpens. Kershaw was called up in the 12th inning with two outs and the game tied 5–5.
Facing Nathan Lukes with the bases loaded, Kershaw’s full-count pitch was hit slowly to second baseman Tommy Edman. Kershaw broke toward first base, but Freeman was covering the bag. Kershaw watched as Edman fielded the ball and flipped a throw with his glove.
It wasn’t a strikeout like the 3,052 Ks that Kershaw had amassed during his regular-season career since 2008. But it was good enough as Kershaw slowly walked to the Dodger dugout.
No final bow. No blowing kisses to his family in the stands.
There were six innings left to play.
Freddie Freeman’s Walk-Off Home Run in World Series Game 3
What did World Series heroes Kirk Gibson, Joe Carter, Bill Mazeroski and Carlton Fisk have in common? Their respective walk-off home runs were once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Freeman didn’t take long to add a sequel to his 2024 World Series walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees.
The only difference was the Dodger Stadium crowd.
Unlike the 10th-inning madness and anticipation that set the stage for Freeman’s heroes in Game 1 of the 2024 Fall Classic, his 2025 moment woke up the crowd, exhausted after watching nearly seven hours of pitching changes, near misses and other drama that stretched into the night.
When Freeman finally ended the game at 11:50 p.m. with a drive over the center-field fence, the ballpark erupted with shock and delight. Although the World Series itself was far from over, fans had an excuse to finally let loose as the clock approached midnight to “party like it’s 2024.”
The World Series Game 6-Ending Double Play
Double or nothing.
The highlights show a charging Kiké Hernández catching a line drive by Andrés Giménez and doubling up Addison Barger attempting to return to second base to preserve a 3–1 victory.
What’s not obvious is Hernández momentarily losing the ball in the lights at Rogers Centre.
Playing in his 102nd career postseason game, Hernández kept his cool, just like the headline on his 2025 bobblehead box distributed at Dodger Stadium: “Mr. Clutchtober.”
Hernández relied on his instincts and kept running, knowing he was headed in the general direction of the ball. After catching the ball, he couldn’t throw too hard toward Miguel Rojas because he didn’t want the throw to sail.
Rojas short-hopped the throw at his belt as he stumbled back. His foot stayed on the base, and the Dodgers were able to stick around for a Game 7.
Muncy, Rojas and Smith Late Homers in World Series Game 7
Hitting 54 and 55 home runs, respectively, in his first two regular seasons with the Dodgers gives Dodger fans the assumption that Ohtani will always come to the rescue, especially in the approaching final scenes of the 2025 World Series.
And somehow, the other power sources that propelled the Dodgers to victory defined what it meant to be a team when the Dodgers trailed 4–2 in the eighth inning.
Against Toronto rookie sensation Trey Yesavage, Max Muncy hit his franchise-leading 16th career postseason home run to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 4–3.
In the ninth inning, №9 hitter Miguel Rojas stepped to the plate with Ohtani on deck. When Rojas pulled a full-count pitch into the left field stands for a game-tying home run, broadcaster Joe Davis exclaimed, “No way!”
Smith’s homer in the 11th off right-hander Shane Bieber may not have provided the drama of Rojas or the left-field adventures on defense of Kiké Hernández and Andy Pages.
All that counted was the final margin of victory.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s incredible postseason
During the regular season, the right-hander had no complete games in 30 starts. In fact, no Dodger pitcher threw a complete game in the 2025 regular season.
Yamamoto’s closest call was a near no-hitter on Sept. 6 in Baltimore that vanished on Jackson Holliday’s two-out home run. The near milestone quickly became a bullpen meltdown, and the Dodgers’ 4–3 loss became a low point in the season from which the team eventually rallied.
In October, Yamamoto became the first Dodger pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1988 to post consecutive complete-game victories. Both wins were by 5–1 scores on the road: NLCS Game 2 at Milwaukee and World Series Game 2 at Toronto.
Yamamoto’s complete games became part of his legendary postseason.
The 2025 World Series MVP became the first pitcher to win three games in the Fall Classic since Randy Johnson of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. Yamamoto pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 after throwing 96 pitches over six innings in a 3–1 victory in Game 6.
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10 of the Dodgers most memorable 2025 postseason moments was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.