Copyright CBS News
The 2025 MLB season wrapped up on Saturday with a thrilling Game 7 showdown between the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Following the series' trend, the game was filled with pivotal moments that had fans worldwide on the edge of their seats. Each step of the series saw both teams capitalize on opportunities on the biggest stage, with the tide eventually turning in the Dodgers' favor at the very last moments. Here's a look at the 2025 World Series' most crucial plays that cemented it among the all-time great postseason clashes. Game 1 Despite the Dodgers jumping to an early 2-0 lead to begin the World Series, Game 1 came up all Blue Jays during their 11-4 win. They jumped on LA starting pitcher Blake Snell early, tallying five earned runs on eight hits, including one home run from Daulton Varsho in the bottom of the fourth inning. Game 1's biggest moment came in the sixth inning, when Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger crushed a grand slam, becoming the first player in World Series history to hit a pinch-hit grand slam. He was quickly followed up by a two-run shot from Alejandro Kirk, putting Toronto up 11-2 and cementing their win to begin the Fall Classic. Game 2 The Boys in Blue immediately answered back in Game 2 with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. He hurled his second straight postseason complete game, after first accomplishing the feat in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. He limited the hot Toronto bats to just four hits and one run over nine innings, striking out eight along the way. He outdueled Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, who went six and 2/3 innings while striking out six batters before allowing a pair of solo home runs to Max Muncy and Will Smith. The 5-1 win and masterpiece from Yamamoto was crucial to the Dodgers' success in Game 3, which wound up being a classic affair. Game 3 The third installment of the series became an instant all-timer, with the teams dueling through 18 grueling innings in a contest that lasted nearly eight hours. For the third game in a row, the Dodgers scored first when Teoscar Hernández slugged a long home run to left field off of Toronto starter Max Scherzer. Shohei Ohtani followed up with his own solo shot before Toronto answered back with a three-run home run from catcher Alejandro Kirk. The Boys in Blue answered back in the bottom of the fifth inning, tying the game at 4-4. At this point, both Scherzer and Los Angeles starter Tyler Glasnow were already pulled from the game, making for a bullpen game for the ages. Both teams would tack on runs in the seventh inning, Toronto on a Bo Bichette single and the Dodgers via yet another Ohtani homer. Despite getting two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Jays failed to score, and with the Dodgers unable to tally their own run, the game went to extra innings. Neither of the two teams was able to capitalize on runners on base, with the game finally ending in the bottom of the 18th inning, when first baseman Freddie Freeman unleashed on a Seranthony Dominguez fastball, sending it 400+ feet over the centerfield wall and sending the Dodger Faithful home victorious with the 6-5 win. The game matched the record for longest World Series matchup and saw 19 different pitchers take the mound. The teams tallied 32 hits in the contest, combining to leave 37 runners on base. Game 4 Toronto would tie the series back up with their 6-2 victory in Game 4, courtesy of a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. home run off of Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani. For the fourth consecutive game, LA scored first, but Guerrero Jr.'s homer vaulted the Toronto offense past Ohtani's six innings. The Blue Jays would end up scoring four runs off Ohtani, who struck out six and walked one on the night. They used a four-run seventh inning, tacking on runs driven in by Bichette, Barger, Ty France and Andrés Giménez. Toronto starter Shane Bieber also limited the Boys in Blue to just one run through five and 1/3 innings. Game 5 With the World Series lead on the line, the Blue Jays turned to an unlikely source of hope in rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage, who answered the call astoundingly. He would go on to toss seven innings of one-run baseball, striking out 12 and allowing just one run as Toronto took the 3-2 series lead with their 6-1 win. Yesavage outdid Dodgers starter Blake Snell, who lasted through six and 2/3 innings but allowed five runs on six hits and four walks. He allowed back-to-back home runs to begin the contest, when Davis Schneider crushed the first pitch of the game to left field, and Guerrero Jr. followed up with his own solo shot two pitches later. LA's lone run of the game came on a home run off the bat of Kiké Hernández in the third inning. For the second night in a row, Toronto scored multiple runs in the seventh inning, this time via a wild pitch from Dodgers' pitcher Edgardo Henriquez and a single from Bichette. They scored their sixth run of the game in the eighth inning when Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to score Ernie Clement. Game 6 With their backs against the wall in Game 6, the Dodgers turned once again to ace pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Halloween-night matchup, a repeat of Game 2's starting pitchers, would be the lowest-scoring affair of the series. Yamamoto cruised through six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six Blue Jays. On the other side of the diamond, Gausman also pitched six innings, giving up three runs on two walks and three hits. All four of the runs scored in the 3-1 game came in the third inning, but all of the drama came in the bottom of the ninth. After escaping the eighth inning with two runners on base, the Dodgers sent Roki Sasaki back out for the final frame of the game, but he promptly hit Alejandro Kirk, the first batter he faced. Blue Jays Manager John Schneider subbed him out for the much speedier Myles Straw with Barger coming to the plate. He crushed a line drive to left field, which lodged underneath the outfield wall padding for a ground rule double. The controversial call, which ended up overturning what could have been a game-tying inside-the-park homer, instead put two runners in scoring position for the Jays. Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts made a pitching change following the hit, swapping in starter Tyler Glasnow for Sasaki. He promptly got Ernie Clement to pop out for the first out of the inning. With two runners still on, he induced a fly ball from Andrés Giménez to Kiké Hernández, who rifled a throw to second base, nabbing Barger, who was too far off the base, concluding what was a wild series of events to once again tie the series. Game 7 Game 7. Every sports fan's favorite two words. The decisive game in the series would end up being another extra-inning contest for the record books. Ohtani and Scherzer faced off once again, Ohtani on short rest for just the second time in his career and Scherzer becoming the oldest player ever at 41 to start a Game 7. For just the second time in the entire series, the Blue Jays struck first when Bo Bichette hammered a hanging slider from Ohtani to left field, giving them the 3-0 lead. It came an inning after Toronto failed to take advantage of a bases-loaded scenario in the bottom of the second. The Dodgers would take one run back instantly when Teoscar Hernández hit a sacrifice fly to center field, which was snagged with an incredible dive from Varsho. The inning ended moments later on another spectacular play, when Guerrero Jr. robbed Tommy Edman's line drive with his own diving catch. They tacked another run on in the sixth, via another sacrifice fly, this time from Edman, making it 3-2 Toronto heading into the latter half of the game. Andrés Giménez promptly doubled in the bottom of the frame, scoring Ernie Clement and giving the Blue Jays the two-run lead yet again. The Blue Jays tapped Yesavage once again in the seventh inning. He pitched through one and 2/3 innings before allowing a shot to Max Muncy, bringing the Boys in Blue within one run heading to the ninth. It was then that the game's most unlikely hero came through in the form of Miguel Rojas, who, up until the fifth inning, hadn't gotten a hit since Oct. 1. With one down in the top of the ninth, a 3-2 count and Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman on the mound, Rojas corked a ball to deep left field, tying the game and silencing the entire Rogers Centre crowd. The Blue Jays had another chance to end their season victorious in the bottom of the ninth, when they loaded the bases against the combination of Dodgers starters in Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. With just one out, Rojas made an equally sensational play in the field, snagging a sharp ground ball off the bat of Daulton Varsho. He then hurtled the ball home, just beating the sliding Kiner-Falefa and saving the Dodgers' season. The very next batter in Ernie Clement, who became the all-time leader in single postseason hits with 30, connected with a Yamamoto fastball, sending it to deep left field. What looked like a walk-off hit wound up in the glove of the sprinting Andy Pages, who was subbed in the play prior by Dave Roberts, after he collided with Kiké Hernández. The incredible play, in which Pages sprinted 121 feet to run down the ball, was the second consecutive stellar play to save the Boys in Blue. Though neither team scored in the 10th inning, the Dodgers got the most important home run of the season from Will Smith, who hit a solo homer off of Shane Bieber, who appeared in relief, giving the Dodgers the 5-4 lead. The bottom of the inning was anything but easy for Yamamoto, who promptly gave up a double to Guerrero Jr., who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Kiner-Falefa. He then walked Barger, bringing Alejandro Kirk to the plate with two runners on base. Kirk instantly fell behind 0-2 before hacking at a 92-mph splitter from Yamamoto, which he grounded to shortstop Mookie Betts. He kept the ball, stepped on second and threw to Freeman for the third out of the frame, making the Dodgers champions once again. Where the 2025 Dodgers fall in MLB history The Dodgers' second consecutive championship makes them the first MLB team to accomplish the feat since 2000, when the New York Yankees completed their three-peat. It's the first time in their storied history that they've won back-to-back titles. It's the team's ninth title, moving them into a tie for third when it comes to all-time rankings. They're behind the Yankees, who have 27 World Series, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who have 11. They're the first team ever to be losing in the ninth inning of a Game 7 on the road before coming back to win the whole thing. Ohtani set a postseason record and tied a longstanding MLB record in Game 3, when he reached base in all nine of his plate appearances. He hit two home runs, two doubles and was walked five times, four of which were intentional. Yamamoto earned three wins in the series, becoming one of just a handful of pitchers all-time to earn the achievement. His unprecedented back-to-back appearances in Games 6 and 7 cemented his place in baseball and Dodgers history. He's the second-ever Asian player to win World Series MVP, after Yankees' outfielder Hideki Matsui did so in 2009. In all, the series saw 19 homers and 60 runs scored. Two of the games went past the ninth inning and over those 30 extra innings, 32 pitchers were used.
