It is the Dodgers' third World Series title this decade having also won during the COVID shortened 2020 season.
The Jays did take a 3-0 lead in the 3rd on a 3-run HR by Bo Bichette off Shohei Ohtani. But this lead just didn't seem enough.
The Dodgers scored in the 4th and the 6th on sac flies by Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman.
Tensions escalated in the 4th when Andres Gimenez took exception to being hit by a pitch by Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski. Gimenez got a measure of revenge in the 6th when he doubled to give the Jays a 4-2 lead.
But the Dodgers chipped away. Max Muncy homered in the 8th to make it 4-3. With the Jays two outs away from winning the World Series, Miguel Rojas went deep to tie it at 4-4. The Dodgers went ahead 5-4 in the 11th inning on a HR by catcher Will Smith.
The Jays had opportunities to score in the 9th and 11th but fell short in no small part to Yoshinobu Yamamoto who pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief earning his third win of the Series less than 24 hours after winning Game 6.
Yamamoto becomes the first pitcher to win 3 games in a World Series since Mickey Lolich did it with the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 Fall Classic against the St. Louis Cardinals. Lolich threw three complete games in that World Series. Needless to say, Yamamoto richly deserved his World Series MVP pitching 17.2 innings giving up only 2 runs on 10 hits striking out 15 batters while only walking two.
On a personal note, I had hoped to catch a couple of innings at the Shine Square Pub as I did during Game 4 on Tuesday night. But on this Saturday night, all the TVs at the Shine Square Pub were tuned into the Boston Celtics game against the Houston Rockets.
As disappointed as I am with the outcome, the Dodgers earned this title. They were down 3-2 coming back to Toronto and swept Games 6 & 7.
Still, the Jays have nothing to be ashamed of at all. This team finished in last place in the AL East in 2024, 20 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. This year they win the AL East and best the Yankees in the ALDS, win a sensational ALCS against the Seattle Mariners and take the defending World Series champion Dodgers to the limit after they easily dispatched of the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers.
Then there the law of averages. No team had won consecutive World Series titles since the Yankees from 1998 to 2000. This was the longest stretch in MLB history without consecutive World Series titles. It was going to end sooner or later and, unfortunately for Toronto fans, it ended tonight. Indeed, the Dodgers have a chance to earn three consecutive World Series titles next year joining the Yankees and Oakland A's as the only franchises to do so. If they accomplish this feat, they will be the first NL franchise to earn this distinction.
But that's a story for next year. For the moment, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers remain the champions of baseball.
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