TORONTO (AP) — Late homers by Miguel Rojas and Will Smith rallied the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings Saturday night — one of the in World Series history.
Los Angeles overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to become baseball’s first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three titles in a row.
Here are the top moments from the epic Game 7:
The Blue Jays took an early 3-0 lead when for his first homer since Sept. 2 — a few days before sustaining a left knee injury that sidelined him until the World Series and still hampered him throughout.
Ohtani was pitching on three days of rest, and although he was up to 100.9 mph with his fastball, his command was shaky and he appeared to run out of steam in the third. After fielding Nathan Lukes’ sacrifice bunt, he threw a wild pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and allowed Bichette’s homer on the next pitch, his 51st and last of the night.
Both after Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski hit Giménez on the right hand with a pitch in the fourth inning. Wrobleski had already thrown two high-and-inside fastballs to Giménez with his first and fourth pitches before hitting him with a 96.4 mph fastball with one out.
After the players returned to their benches and bullpens, the umpires huddled briefly before crew chief Mark Wegner issued a warning to both teams. Play resumed after a four-minute break between pitches.
Max Muncy trimmed Toronto’s lead to 4-3 with a solo homer in the eighth, and that also guaranteed Ohtani would bat in the ninth. But the two-way superstar didn’t have to be the hero, after all.
Rojas hit the first tying home run in the ninth inning or later of a World Series Game 7, according to Stats Perform. His one-out drive off Jeff Hoffman was just his second home run since the All-Star break and his second in 20 career postseason games.
Blake Snell allowed two Toronto baserunners, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to a day after he threw 96 pitches in a Game 6 victory. Yamamoto hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch, loading the bases, before the Dodgers escaped with two helter-skelter defensive plays.
With the infield playing in to prevent the winning run, Rojas fielded Daulton Varsho’s grounder to second base and nearly fell over. He gathered himself and threw home, but the toss briefly pulled Smith off the plate. Smith’s toe barely reconnected with the plate in time to get the forceout, a call confirmed by video review.
Then center fielder Andy Pages, who had just been inserted off the bench to provide better defense, collided with left fielder Kiké Hernández while catching Ernie Clement’s long fly on the left-center warning track. Pages held on for the final out of the inning despite knocking Hernández to the ground.
Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out in the 10th inning, but Seranthony Domínguez got two quick outs to escape. Giménez threw out Mookie Betts at home plate on Pages’ grounder to shortstop, then Guerrero fielded Hernández’s grounder to first and flipped to Domínguez covering the bag on a close play.
Smith set a record for most innings caught in a single World Series with 74, and he helped ensure he wouldn’t have to catch a 75th with his solo shot in the 11th.
Smith hit a 2-0 slider from Shane Bieber into the Blue Jays’ bullpen in left field, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night. It was the first extra-inning homer in a World Series Game 7.
Guerrero doubled off Yamamoto leading off the bottom of the 11th and advanced to third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice bunt, and Toronto got the potential winning run on base when Addison Barger walked.
Yamamoto then induced a game-ending 6-6-3 double play from Kirk, cementing the Dodgers’ second consecutive title and his World Series MVP award.
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