The Blue Jays, playing in front of a raucous home crowd at Rogers Centre, looked poised to capture their first championship since 1993. They took a 3–0 lead in the third inning when Bo Bichette launched a towering 442-foot three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani, who was pitching on just three days’ rest. Ohtani, though not at his sharpest, battled through two innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second by striking out Andrés Giménez with a 99 mph fastball.

Max Muncy reignited the Dodgers’ hopes with a solo home run in the eighth, narrowing the gap to 4–3. Then came the first of two dramatic home runs that would define the night. With one out in the top of the ninth, light-hitting utilityman Miguel Rojas stunned the crowd with a solo blast off closer Jeff Hoffman, tying the game at 4–4. The Blue Jays nearly walked it off in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs. Ernie Clement’s deep fly to left-center looked destined to end the game, but defensive replacement Andy Pages made a leaping catch at the warning track, narrowly avoiding a collision with Kiké Hernández.

The game reached the 11th inning, where Dodgers catcher Will Smith—already a postseason hero—delivered the decisive blow. With two outs and nobody on, Smith crushed a slider from Shane Bieber 366 feet into the left-field stands, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night. Smith, who had doubled and scored earlier, finished the game 2-for-5 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI.

Toronto refused to go quietly. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the bottom of the 11th with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. But Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching on zero days’ rest after throwing six innings in Game 6, induced a double-play grounder from Alejandro Kirk to end the game and the series. Yamamoto’s 2 ⅔ scoreless innings earned him the win and capped one of the most remarkable pitching performances in postseason history—he became the first pitcher since Randy Johnson in 2001 to pitch six-plus innings one night and return the next to win in relief.

The Dodgers’ victory marked their ninth World Series title and third in five years, solidifying their status as a modern dynasty. Their $500 million payroll and star-studded roster delivered under immense pressure, winning Games 6 and 7 on the road after trailing 3–2 in the series. For the Blue Jays, the loss was heartbreaking but not without pride. They pushed the defending champions to the brink, led by standout performances from Bichette, Guerrero Jr., and a resilient bullpen that held the Dodgers scoreless in the 10th despite a bases-loaded jam.

In a Fall Classic filled with drama—an 18-inning Game 3, a wild Game 6 finish, and a Game 7 that will be remembered for decades—both teams showcased the best of October baseball. The Dodgers may have hoisted the trophy, but the Blue Jays proved they belong among the elite, setting the stage for what could be a fierce rivalry for years to come.