TORONTO — The weight is over.
They carried it every day from February all the way into November. They were supposed to do this. They were supposed to win. They were supposed to be the first team to repeat as champions since the New York Yankees in 1998-2000. They were supposed to live up to the hyperbolic evaluations that pegged theirs as the most talented roster in baseball history.
It took a game-tying home run in the ninth inning (the first in World Series history) by Miguel Rojas, a game-winning home run by Will Smith in the 11th and 2⅔ innings of relief from Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Bulldog Mode fully engaged) to make all that come true with a 5-4 victory in Game 7 of the World Series for their third title in six years.
“You dream of those moments, you know, extra innings, put your team ahead – I’ll remember that forever,” Smith said.
It was a memorable World Series featuring two extra-inning games, shocking momentum shifts and game-saving defensive plays. But the Dodgers didn’t always look like the better team in the matchup. The Toronto Blue Jays played better defense overall, took better at-bats consistently and were better in the clutch over the seven games – except when it mattered most.
“That was incredible all the way around,” said pitcher Clayton Kershaw, whose career ended as he was warming up in the bullpen. “The Blue Jays are an unbelievable team. They fought so hard and so did we. You saw a lot of guys do things no one would ever ask – starting with Shohei (Ohtani) on short rest and then you have Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow coming in. I don’t think you’ll ever see what you saw Yoshi do tonight. That was probably the most gutsy, ballsy thing any guy has ever done. He’s used to pitching on a week’s rest the whole season. For him to come in and say he’s willing to do that and throw not just one inning but – what was it, 2⅔ whatever it was? You can’t even describe that.”
The Dodgers’ first lead in Game 7 didn’t come until Smith’s home run with two outs in the 11th, the clock past midnight – and the calendar flipped to Nov. 2.
“We didn’t lead until we needed to,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said with a laugh.
The Dodgers absorbed all of Game 7’s setbacks – just as they absorbed the injuries and inconsistencies of a long season to get here – and emerged as champions.
“It’s hard to put into words right now. This is amazing. This is about as amazing as it gets,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “This is why you play this game. You want to hoist up that trophy. You want to spill champagne everywhere. You want to celebrate with your teammates.
“For us, our first game was what March 17? First game was March 17 and the last game was November 1st … sorry, sorry, fact check me – November 2nd (after midnight). This is why you play this game. You want to hoist up that trophy. This is why you put on a Dodger uniform.”
Like almost everything about this season, it didn’t go as planned. The Dodgers even found the limits of what Ohtani can do.
It was only the second time in his career Ohtani had started on short rest. He followed a two-inning, rain-shortened start with seven scoreless innings three days later in April 2023 for the Angels.
The circumstances were far different Saturday night, and Ohtani seemed off from the start. He struggled with his command. Only half of his first 30 pitches were strikes. The Blue Jays put the first batter on base in each of the first three innings, putting stress on Ohtani.
He escaped the first two but gave up a three-run home run to Bo Bichette in the third inning.
“They get the three-run bomb early and the roof exploded off this place. Loudest place I think I’ve ever been,” Muncy said. “As a hitting group we kind of met and talked about what we talked about in Philly (at the start of the National League Division Series) – there’s going to be a moment where it gets extremely loud. But it’s going to be extremely silent when we’re on top at the end. That’s what we kept thinking about.”
Whatever master pitching plan the Dodgers had come up with to cover nine innings, it did not include Ohtani giving up a 110.1 mph laser that traveled 442 feet to straightaway center field for a three-run home run that put their stagnant offense in the trail position.
They wound up using all four of their starting pitchers from this series, plus Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski (starters by trade moved to the bullpen in the postseason). The one who recorded the most outs – the final eight – was Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in Game 6.
“For him to have the same stuff that he had the night before is absolutely mind-blowing to me,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “I got a text (via Will Ireton) last night that Yama was getting treatment to be ready for today. Kind of scoffed at it, like, ‘Oh, that’s great, he really cares but the likelihood of that is pretty low.’ And then today, he got treatment again, and said, ‘Hey, I feel really good. Like, I’m able to go out and give at least an inning, and we’ll see how my stuff holds.’ For him to have the same stuff that he had the night before is really the greatest accomplishment I’ve ever seen on a Major League Baseball field.”
The Dodgers still had to get enough offense to make Yamamoto’s heroics pay off.
They got a run in the fourth inning against Jays starter Max Scherzer but stranded two runners after back-to-back outstanding defensive plays by the Blue Jays – diving catches by Daulton Varsho in center field and Guerrero down the first base line.
Both benches – and bullpens – emptied in the fourth inning after Wrobleski hit Gimenez with a pitch, adding some menace to the drama.
The Dodgers crawled within a run in the sixth inning and again on Muncy’s solo home run in the eighth.
Rojas finally got the Dodgers even with one out in the ninth inning when he worked the count full against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman then lined a hanging slider over the wall in left field. It was only the second extra-base hit in 21 postseason games for Rojas, the first since another home run for the Miami Marlins in their 2020 NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.
“When you play the game right, treat people right, are the teammate like Miguel is, I think we said it in there (the post-game celebration), the game honors you,” Freeman said. “Miguel’s been grinding, just doing whatever he could to help this team win. To come up with that moment when you’re 36 years old and says he’s going to retire after next season, to have that moment in the World Series in Game 7, just absolutely incredible.
“It saved our year.”
They escaped a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth, wasted their own in the top of the 10th and finally took their first lead of the night on Smith’s home run with two outs in the 11th.
“A 2-0 count curveball home run? I hope people realize that that’s not easy to do,” Freeman said. “A lot of us are taking offspeed in that situation. He was on it and hit it out. Like I said, he was the silent assassin a few games ago.”
Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in the Dodgers’ Game 6 win on Friday, ended up throwing 34 pitches to close the clincher. He gave up a leadoff double in the 11th to Guerrero, who was sacrificed to third. Addison Barger walked and Alejandro Kirk hit a broken-bat grounder to shortstop Mookie Betts, who started a title-winning double play that ended baseball’s 150th major league season, the first that began and ended outside the United States.
Yamamoto won both of them – the first game in Tokyo on March 18 and Game 7 of the World Series. He was named the World Series MVP after getting three of the Dodgers’ wins – his complete game in Game 2, six innings in his Game 6 start and the relief win in Game 7.
“You know everybody talks about the Dodgers and how much money we spend and how we’re supposed to do this and all that stuff,” Kershaw said. “But I tell you what, man – you can’t buy the character and the heart and the willingness to do things that other people would not. All the way down our lineup. What Will Smith did – to catch 18 innings, catch a whole game, come up with a big home run. Mookie playing shortstop. Freddie doing what he does. It’s all our superstars. There’s a lot of superstars in this game but I don’t think they’re all like that. I don’t think they’re all willing to do whatever it takes for their team. That’s what makes us special. That’s what makes this team special. We have a lot of superstars, but they’re willing to do whatever it takes to help us win the World Series. You saw that tonight.
“I’ve done some short rest stuff (in the playoffs). I’ve pitched on one day rest. I’ve never done no day’s rest. … (Yamamoto) is amazing. He really is.”
PHOTOS: Dodgers outlast Blue Jays for back-to-back World Series titles
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