They beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings<\/a>, riding one season-saving play after another to improbably repeat as champions of baseball.<\/p>\n There was a miraculous ninth-inning comeback, when Miguel Rojas<\/a> tied it with a home run to left field. There was a frantic escape of a bases-loaded jam the next half inning \u2014 the Dodgers staring down certain defeat, only to once again prevail.<\/p>\n In the 11th, they finally won it, taking their first lead of the game on a Will Smith home run with two outs in the top half of the inning, then watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto \u2014 in his third inning of work, a night after throwing 96 pitches in a Game 6 win \u2014 close it all out on a double-play grounder to shortstop Mookie Betts.<\/p>\n For ages, this game will be remembered. As long as baseball is played, a script like this will never be replicated.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little speechless, a little bit shocked that we won this one tonight,\u201d retiring pitcher and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy internal workings were not going great,\u201d president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman<\/a> added. \u201cDefinitely took years off my life. But for us to be on this side of it, worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dodgers looked buried early, falling behind 3-0 when a hobbled Bo Bichette took an exhausted Shohei Ohtani<\/a> deep in the third inning. They seemed finished until the ninth, clawing back within one but never completely erasing the deficit \u2014 until Rojas saved the season with his game-tying home run to left.<\/p>\n Even then, salvation wasn\u2019t assured. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Blue Jays had the bases loaded, but somehow didn\u2019t break through.<\/p>\n Rojas saved the day for a second time on a ground ball at second base, fielding it from a drawn-in position before firing for a force-out at home plate. The next batter, Ernie Clement, sent a fly ball to deep left-center. Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez and defensive replacement Andy Pages collided at the warning track. Hern\u00e1ndez hit the deck. Pages completed the catch.<\/p>\n Miguel Rojas celebrates after tying the game on a solo home run in the ninth inning for the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series on Saturday.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The game would continue, thanks to the heroic (and Series MVP-clinching) effort of Yamamoto, who first entered the fray in the middle of the ninth-inning jam, then followed that up by retiring the side in order in the 10th.<\/p>\n Finally, in the 11th, the Dodgers completed their climb back atop the summit. Smith went deep. Yamamoto closed it out.<\/p>\n Now, and forever, the Dodgers have secured legendary status.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a legacy that is gonna be remembered forever,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if this is the best team ever assembled or anything like that. You guys tell me after. But it\u2019s pretty close to being one of the best teams ever.\u201d<\/p>\n At the very least, these Dodgers have now completed one of the most accomplished runs in Major League Baseball history.<\/p>\n They are the first team to repeat as champions since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000. They became just the sixth franchise to win three World Series in a six-year period.<\/p>\n Most impressively, they did it all this year under the weight of unprecedented expectations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone in spring training was expecting us to win,\u201d first baseman Freddie Freeman<\/a> said. \u201cThat\u2019s really hard to do \u2026 I think that\u2019s what makes it that much sweeter.\u201d<\/p>\n After all, they were not so much playing against their opposition this season, as they were for a place among the sport\u2019s immortal ranks. <\/p>\n These Dodgers had the most star-studded roster in the majors. They had a record-setting payroll, by luxury tax calculations, of roughly $415 million. They were also pilloried by the narrative that their hoarding of high-priced talent would make their dominance bad for baseball<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dominance, however, is not what defined this season.<\/p>\n The starting rotation was ravaged by injuries early in the year. An inconsistent lineup and bullpen led to a second-half slump. They still won 93 games, and grinded out their 12th division title in the last 13 years. But at times, Rojas said, \u201cwe were asking a lot of questions in the clubhouse: Is this team good enough?\u201d<\/p>\n Their elongated postseason path provided a resounding answer, as the Dodgers navigated an October march that actually stretched from Sept. 30 to Nov. 1 \u2014 and then, in extra innings of Game 7, the early hours of Nov. 2.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just kept going one pitch at a time, one day at a time,\u201d Smith said. \u201cKeep believing in ourselves. Keep believing in how good we are. Keep believing we\u2019re the best team in baseball. Keep believing in each other.\u201d<\/p>\n That belief was pushed to the limit Saturday. Three innings in, the Dodgers\u2019 best-laid plans had backfired in an early implosion.<\/p>\n Starting on just three days\u2019 rest, after throwing 93 pitches in Game 4<\/a> of this epic Fall Classic, Ohtani struggled mightily in his Game 7 start, lacking feel for his stuff while clearly running low on gas.<\/p>\n In both the first and third innings, Ohtani was so slow getting to the mound after hitting the previous half-inning, he needed the umpires to grant him extra time to throw his warm-up pitches. And after surviving trouble in each of his first two frames, he hung a slider to Bichette in the third that was hammered for a score-opening, stadium-shaking, nearly second-deck three-run homer.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, shoot,\u201d Lakers legend and Dodgers part-owner Magic Johnson<\/a> thought from his Rogers Centre suite. \u201cThis place is probably the loudest stadium I\u2019ve ever been in.\u201d<\/p>\n On the mound, Ohtani bent down to his knees as manager Dave Roberts<\/a> came out to remove him.<\/p>\n During the pitching change, however, the Dodgers tried to steady their emotions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis game is not over,\u201d Rojas implored his teammates around the mound. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna keep fighting. We\u2019re gonna keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that Rojas was on the field Saturday was far from from a certainty earlier in the day. <\/p>\n The night before, in his first start since Game 2 of the division series, the veteran infielder had tweaked a lingering intercostal injury after completing an awkward game-winning double-play at second base, and getting forcefully mobbed by his teammates in the on-field celebration.<\/p>\n When Rojas woke up Saturday, his left rib cage was aching. He had trouble raising his arm above his head.<\/p>\n \u201cDoc was texting me and asking if I could go,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cI told him, \u2018Hey, let me get to the stadium and hit [to see].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762087748_27_hqdefault.jpg\")
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