There was a buzz in the air all day in the lead up to Game 7 on Saturday night in Toronto.
It was an all-time pitching matchup between Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer for the Blue Jays.
It also saw Los Angeles’ high-powered offense versus Toronto’s high-powered offense.
And, boy, did the win-or-go-home four-plus hour game live up to all the hype and then some!
The Jays got the scoring started early with a Bo Bichette three-run home run off Ohtani in the third inning.
Despite it knocking Ohtani off the mound, the Dodgers did not give up.
Two sacrifice flies in the fourth and sixth inning made it a one-run game but Blue Jays second baseman Andrés Giménez doubled to right field to score Ernie Clement to double the lead in bottom of the sixth before Max Muncy’s solo shot in the eighth inning made it a one-run game again.
Sometimes the people you least expect to shine do so when the lights are brightest, and that’s what Miguel Rojas did for the Dodgers.
With the Blue Jays two outs away from their first title in 32 years and the Rogers Centre crowd humming, the 36-year-old shortstop, who struggled mightily at the plate all postseason, hit a clutch game-tying shot off closer Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning.
And in the next half-inning, a clutch defensive play from Rojas kept the team’s title hopes alive – along with Andy Pages’ incredible catch while colliding with Kiké Hernández to force extra innings.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who is no stranger to big home runs, yet again was the answer with the eventual game-winning solo shot in the 11th inning.
Multiple times, it appeared the Dodgers and Jays would take command, but pitching came up in big spots for both teams.
But it was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who got the win as LA’s starter in Friday’s Game 6, that played hero for the Dodgers.
The 27-year-old Japanese phenom threw 2 and 2/3 innings and closed the door on the Jays, forcing catcher Alejandro Kirk to ground into a double-play to clinch the win.
Los Angeles became the first team to go back-to-back since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.
Yamamoto was named the World Series MVP.
