World Series Recap and Reaction
Entering the 2025 MLB World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending champions of baseball, were dominating almost every team they played in the postseason. They had swept the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card series, defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in four games in the NLDS, and then swept the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS. Due to this dominant stretch, along with their past World Series experience, they were the favorites to win the World Series against the top seed in the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, had been tested slightly more than the Dodgers in their path to the World Series, as, in the ALCS, the Seattle Mariners had given Toronto a run for their money. The Blue Jays had trailed the series 2-0, then 3-2, before winning game six to set up a winner-take-all game seven in Toronto. For a while, it had looked like the Blue Jays were going to lose that game, before George Springer hit a three-run home run in the 7th inning to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. Toronto had held on, and won the American League pennant for the first time since 1993. Entering the World Series, they were underdogs in their quest to win their first World Series since that 1993 season.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays started playing, the series swung back and forth. Toronto took Game 1, due to a nine-run sixth inning which turned it from a 2-2 tie to an 11-2 Blue Jays lead, and the final score was 11-4. However, the Dodgers took Game 2 5-1, tying the World Series at 1-1 as the series headed to Los Angeles. Game 3 in Los Angeles was an all-time classic. It went back and forth, and, in the end, the Dodgers won 6-5 in 18 innings on a walk-off home run by Freddie Freeman. Los Angeles now led the series 2-1, but Toronto wouldn't back down. The Blue Jays took the next two games in L.A., and headed back to Toronto with the 3-2 series lead, one win away from a World Series. The Dodgers won Game 6, though, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7.
Game 7 would turn out to be an all-time great game, which will most likely be remembered for a long time. In the third inning, Blue Jays second baseman Bo Bichette hit a three-run home run to give Toronto the 3-0 early lead. The Dodgers responded by a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, and then another sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, to trim their deficit to 3-2. However, in the bottom of the sixth, Toronto got a key insurance run on a RBI double by shortstop Andres Gimenez, pushing the lead back out to 4-2. Dodgers outfielder Max Muncy hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth, cutting the Blue Jays' lead back down to one. However, headed into the top of the ninth, Toronto was still only three outs away from their first World Series in 32 years. After striking out the first batter of the inning, they were only two outs away. And then chaos erupted. Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman gave up a game-tying, solo home run to Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas, leaving the Blue Jays home crowd in Toronto stunned. The Blue Jays had another good shot to win it in the bottom of the ninth, though, as they had the bases loaded with only one out. If they could just get the ball into the outfield, they would likely win the World Series. However, they grounded into a force play at home, and then, with the bases loaded and two outs, Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement hit a ball into left center, causing both Dodgers left fielder Enrique Hernandez and Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages to chase after the ball. They collided, but Pages somehow came down with it anyway, sending the game to extra innings. After both teams went scoreless in the tenth inning, Dodgers catcher Will Smith became the hero in the eleventh, as he hit a two-out, solo home run to give Los Angeles the 5-4 lead. The Blue Jays had one last chance in the bottom of the eleventh, and it started off well, with first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting a leadoff double. Second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had come in to replace Bichette, then bunted Guerrero to third. Third baseman Addison Barger then walked, and, with runners on the corners and only one out, Toronto looked poised to at least send the game into the twelfth inning, if not win in the eleventh. On the next at-bat, though, the Blue Jays' hopes and dreams were crushed. Catcher Alejandro Kirk grounded into a season-ending double play, giving the Dodgers back-to-back World Series champions. No team had won back-to-back since the Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.
This series cemented the Dodgers dynasty, as they won their third World Series since 2020. They will be looking to three-peat in 2026. For now, though, they will just enjoy this championship. For the Blue Jays, it was a heartbreaking loss, but they hope to come back stronger next year. We will see how they, with most of their key pieces coming back, can respond to this bitter defeat.
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