Will Smith homered in the 11th inning after Miguel Rojas tied the game in the ninth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 on Saturday night to become Major League Baseball’s first repeat champion in 25 years.
Los Angeles overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to secure its second straight title. The Dodgers became the first team to win consecutive World Series championships since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees and the first National League club to do so since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.
Smith hit a 2-0 slider from Shane Bieber into the Blue Jays’ bullpen in right-center, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in Friday’s Game 6 win, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and pitched 2 2/3 innings for his third victory of the Series. He gave up a leadoff double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 11th, who advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, but Mookie Betts started a 6-4-3 double play on Alejandro Kirk’s grounder to end the game.
With their ninth championship — and third in six years — the Dodgers strengthened their case as a modern dynasty.
Bo Bichette put Toronto ahead 3-0 in the third with a three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani, pitching on three days’ rest after taking the loss in Game 3.
Los Angeles cut the lead to 3-2 with sacrifice flies from Teoscar Hernández in the fourth off Max Scherzer and Tommy Edman in the sixth against Chris Bassitt.
Andrés Giménez restored Toronto’s two-run advantage with an RBI double in the sixth off Tyler Glasnow, who had earned the save in Game 6 on Friday.
Max Muncy’s solo homer off rookie Trey Yesavage in the eighth pulled the Dodgers within one, and Rojas tied it an inning later with a full-count homer off Jeff Hoffman before Smith’s 11th-inning blast sealed the championship.