Dodgers edge Blue Jays in 11 to retain World Series in Toronto

The Los Angeles Dodgers kept their crown with a 5–4 Game 7 triumph implicit the Toronto Blue Jays, sealed successful the 11th erstwhile Will Smith launched a two-out solo changeable disconnected Shane Bieber. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, moving connected abbreviated rest, closed it with a game-ending treble play to fastener up the franchise’s ninth rubric and the archetypal repetition MLB champion since 2000.

Smith did not fell what it took. “Man, they’re a peculiar radical of guys,” Smith said aft the game. “We conscionable ne'er gave up, kept fighting, pitching our asses off, hitting, taking large at-bats. Finally punched done there. Man, that was a combat for 7 games. That’s a truly bully Toronto Blue Jays team. I’m conscionable excited. There’s thing amended than this.”

LA spent astir of the nighttime chasing. Down 3–0 aft Bo Bichette’s blast disconnected Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers leaned connected their arms and nerve. The interruption came successful the ninth, erstwhile No 9 hitter Miguel Rojas stunned Rogers Centre with a solo homer disconnected person Jeff Hoffman to necktie it 4–4. “I was ne'er trying to deed a location run,” said Rojas. “I deliberation this is the archetypal location tally against a right-handed pitcher during the full twelvemonth and it came successful the biggest portion of my beingness and my vocation … I can’t truly picture close present the emotions that I feel.”

Toronto’s adjacent miss defines a season

The Jays were 2 outs from a parade. They loaded the bases successful the ninth, saw a razor-thin unit astatine the sheet upheld connected review, past watched Andy Pages marque a colliding, sprawling drawback successful near to propulsion the play to extras. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Daulton Varsho had earlier kept Toronto afloat with crisp defense, and Andrés Giménez’s RBI treble made it 4–2 successful the sixth. However, LA’s parade of starters-turned-relievers — Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell — held Toronto to 1 tally aft the third, and the Jays finished 3-for-17 with runners successful scoring position.

For Smith, Yamamoto acceptable the tone. “[Yamamoto] was the MVP of this series. That was incredible. I talked to him yesterday. I was like, ‘Hey, if you tin springiness america one, we’re going to win.’ He gave america three. That was special,” said Smith. “He’ll person a fewer months off. I cognize helium is going to request it, but yeah, I’m conscionable blessed for him. That was awesome.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider tried to equilibrium the sting and the progress. “It volition wounded for a fewer days, a fewer weeks, erstwhile you’re that close,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The affirmative idiosyncratic successful maine volition instrumentality immoderate clip to digest it ... but I deliberation close present you conscionable person to benignant of instrumentality successful what happened. Going forward, the quality of shot is that it goes on. There volition beryllium outpouring grooming successful February. That being said, you instrumentality distant the sacrifices the guys made, the mode they went astir it, the performances everyone had, and benignant of conscionable the cohesiveness of the team.”