Game 7 DELIVERS! Biggest takeaways from a thrilling Fall Classic clincher

TORONTO -- What a Game 7. What a World Series.

The Dodgers are champs again. And this time, they won it in unbelievably thrilling fashion. A game-tying home run from Miguel Rojas in the ninth. A game-winning home run from Will Smith in the 11th.

Here are four takeaways from the Dodgers’ 5-4, 11-inning victory in the clincher:

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1. An instant classic of a Fall Classic

The best World Series since… when? Wherever it stacks up, it’ll go down as one of the all-time greats.

Every game featured its share of drama. The Dodgers’ 18-inning Game 3 victory made baseball history. Trey Yesavage’s Game 5 start was incredible. The ending to Game 6 was bonkers. And then for it to end like … this?

With Rojas’ game-tying home run in the top of the ninth inning. With Smith’s game-winning homer in the 11th. With the tying run, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left stranded at third base.

“I think that game had every single thing you could possibly have,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Just an absolutely incredible game, incredible series. A grind for both teams. You know, back-to-back is so hard to do, and to be able to pull that off and be the group that does it, it’s absolutely incredible.”

1960? 1991? 2001? 2011? Put this one right up there with the all-time best.

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2. The Dodgers establish their dominance

The Dodgers did not shy away from expectations in 2025. It was World Series or bust. And they didn’t bust.

With three titles in the last six seasons, the Dodgers are establishing themselves as the ultimate powerhouse -- with no end in sight. They have one of the most talented cores in the sport and now boast some serious championship pedigree. In each of their past two World Series runs, they won consecutive games while facing elimination (having also done so last year against the Padres in the NLDS).

“Our overarching goal is for this to be the golden era of Dodger baseball,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “We're going to enjoy this through the weekend and through Monday, and then not long after, we have to go to the GM Meetings and start thinking about the 2026 season, which feels overwhelming right now."

There’s no doubt who will be the favorite entering 2026.

3. Yamamoto’s moment

Just when you thought the legend of Yoshinobu Yamamoto couldn’t grow any larger, he went out and cemented his place in Dodgers history with the performance of a lifetime.

One night after silencing the Blue Jays across six innings of one-run ball to stave off elimination for Los Angeles in Game 6, the 27-year-old right-hander closed out Game 7 with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, becoming the first pitcher to pitch the very next game in a postseason series after going six or more innings the day prior since Randy Johnson, who pitched Games 6 and 7 of the 2001 World Series.

Yamamoto punctuated the outing by retiring the heart of the Blue Jays’ order in the 11th, with his game-ending double-play ball on Alejandro Kirk clinching back-to-back world titles for the Dodgers.

For the series, Yamamoto finished 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA, becoming just the 14th pitcher to earn three wins in a Fall Classic and the first since Johnson in ‘01. For the franchise, it goes down as arguably the greatest collective World Series performance by a Dodgers pitcher since Orel Hershiser’s heroics in 1988, when he tossed complete games in Games 2 and 5 against the A’s.

"Obviously, I watched [Hershiser] as a fan,” Friedman said. “Seeing what Orel did, how he competed, yeah, it adds to that Dodger legacy of what guys have done on the mound in October, and Yama absolutely is on that Mount Rushmore now."

4. This will sting in Toronto for a long, long time

Guerrero is a Blue Jay for the next decade-plus. He’s the cornerstone. Toronto ensured as much by inking him to a franchise-record $500 million contract extension at the outset of the season.

It set the tone for a remarkable year. The Blue Jays won the division, beat the Yankees in the AL Division Series, then won an all-time thriller of an ALCS against Seattle. But they’ll enter the offseason thinking of just how close they came to ending the franchise’s 32-year World Series drought.

That drought will run into a 33rd year. And it’s worth wondering how soon they can get back here. There are questions -- Bo Bichette is slated to be a free agent, George Springer is getting older. The AL East does not appear to be getting any easier. It was a magical run for the Jays in 2025. But was this the end of it? Or was this year’s playoff run the start of something bigger in Toronto?

“It’s hard to replicate true love,” said Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt. “You can try to replicate this. A lot of people will try, but it’s not really possible, for the most part. It’s just, this group is really, really special. And, man, the ending obviously just sucks.”