Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman’s heartbroken quote after Game 7 of the World Series wasn’t eloquent, and yet it said so much:
“Just one pitch, and, uh, yeah.”
That right there is what makes MLB’s postseason so captivating. All it takes is one pitch to upend a game, a story, a season, a legacy.
Hoffman served up one pitch that greatly altered Game 7 -- Miguel Rojas' game-tying home run with one out in the top of the ninth that wound up sending it to extras, where the Dodgers prevailed in 11 innings for their second consecutive crown.
That was quite a moment, one of many in a postseason of tension, taters, teasers, troubles, tortures and triumphs.
Now that the World Series is in the books, let’s take a look back at some of the stories and sequences that defined another epic October.
Here’s one individual moment or performance from each postseason series that best tells its tale.
Tigers-Guardians American League Wild Card: Dingler’s dinger
These two AL Central rivals faced each other in three series in the span of three weeks. Their last two series of the regular season allowed the Guardians to complete a historic surge to first place after trailing the Tigers by as many as 15 1/2 games.
So there was more than the usual amount of emotion packed into this best-of-three at Progressive Field. The Tigers and Guards split the first two games, setting up a winner-take-all Game 3. And with the game itself also tied at 1-1, it was Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler -- who grew up a Cleveland fan in Northeast Ohio -- breaking hearts in his home state by smashing a solo shot off Joey Cantillo in the top of the sixth. The Tigers were in the driver’s seat from there in a 6-3 win.
“The team with the biggest momentum or the most momentum was the one that was going to carry on,” Dingler said afterward. “We were able to flip it right there.”
Dodgers-Reds National League Wild Card: The rookie Roki
What looked like a mismatch on paper turned out to be one in real life, too. There was no single moment that defined the Dodgers’ quick sweep of the Reds, but probably the biggest takeaway from that short series was Los Angeles showing it had something special in the ninth.
An iffy bullpen clouded the Dodgers’ repeat chances, and a poor performance from the ‘pen in the eighth inning of both games sapped a lot of energy from Dodger Stadium. But then in came Roki Sasaki to close out Game 2, flinging 101 mph heat and disposing of the top of the Reds’ order on just 11 pitches, with two strikeouts and a lineout. It was just his fifth relief appearance as a professional, and it changed the way we looked at the Dodgers’ bullpen overnight.
“All you can say is wow,” Max Muncy said afterward. “That’s what we need right there.”
Yankees-Red Sox AL Wild Card: Schlitt happens
As if a Yankees-Red Sox series needed any more juice, the Yanks gave the start in the winner-take-all Game 3 to a rookie pitcher from Walpole, Mass.
Safe to say Cam Schlittler has defected, because he owned this game. Making his postseason debut, he became the first pitcher in postseason history to throw at least eight scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts and no walks. The Yankees cruised, 4-0.
Afterward, Schlittler said the online chatter he had heard from people back home had made it “personal.”
“I’m from Boston,” he said. “I didn’t like some of the things they were saying. I was just making sure I was going out there and extra locked in.”
Cubs-Padres NL Wild Card: PCA comes to play
Though Kyle Tucker’s arrival in a trade last December reshaped the Cubs’ lineup, so did Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 2025 breakout. And in the winner-take-all Game 3 of this series, it was PCA’s time to shine.
A day earlier, Manny Machado had hit a game-changing home run to help force a Game 3. And Machado might have had extra bases on his 111.2 mph liner in the first inning of this one had Crow-Armstrong not bolted nearly 13 feet to his left before snaring it with a sliding catch. The play had just a 10% catch probability.
The next inning, PCA drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single, and the Cubs were on their way to a 3-1 victory and a date with the rival Brewers in the NL Division Series.
Blue Jays-Yankees ALDS: Not a Vlad start
The Blue Jays captured the AL East crown by erasing an eight-game deficit against the Yankees and beating them eight times in 13 regular-season matchups.
Still, New York was the playoff-tested defending AL champ, while this current Toronto core had yet to win a playoff game together, let alone a playoff series. So the Blue Jays had plenty to prove.
So did Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the $500 million man who came into this postseason having never done much on the October stage and having slumped in September.
But when Vladdy went deep off Luis Gil for a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 for the first run of the series (and the first postseason home run of his career), he announced to the world that he and the Jays are for real.
“There was a little bit of a different feel about Vlad today,” Toronto manager John Schneider said afterward.
And it lasted. Guerrero went on to go 9-for-17 (.529) with three homers in the four games against the Yanks -- a sensational start to an epic October.
Brewers-Cubs NLDS: Long Vaughn
Though the Brewers had owned the NL Central this season, they had lost the head-to-head series against the Cubs and were in danger of losing this one, too, after squandering a 2-0 series lead.
But in Game 5 at American Family Field, the man who unexpectedly changed the trajectory of the Brewers’ season had his biggest moment yet. Andrew Vaughn was a low-profile trade pickup from the White Sox midyear who wound up belting nine homers and 14 doubles in 64 games.
In the fourth inning of the Brew Crew’s clincher, he smacked a tiebreaking solo homer off Colin Rea to make it 2-1 in a game Milwaukee would win, 3-1, snapping a streak of six consecutive postseason series in which the Brewers had failed to advance.
Mariners-Tigers ALDS: Leo the lion
Easily one of the most captivating series of this postseason ended in an epic way. Before there could be an 18-inning World Series game this year, there had to be a 15-inning Division Series game between two clubs that spent five games exhausting each other.
It was a Jorge Polanco RBI single that ended the four-hour, 58-minute affair, but the play that carried the most win probability added and best showcased the insanity of October came much earlier, in the bottom of the seventh.
The Mariners were trailing, 2-1 -- seven outs from elimination -- when Leo Rivas, a 28-year-old utilityman and Minor League journeyman, pinch-hit with two outs and lined an RBI single off Tyler Holton to tie the game and, ultimately, send it to those endless extras.
And he did it on his birthday!
“When I woke up,” said Rivas, “I said, ‘Today’s going to be a good day. Today’s going to be a great day to celebrate my birthday.’”
Dodgers-Phillies NLDS: Teo’s tater
After a successful-but-not-stupendous regular season, it was fair to wonder if the Dodgers would flip the switch come October. They took advantage of a favorable matchup against the Reds in the Wild Card Series, but then it was on to Philly for a big test against the NL East champs.
For much of Game 1, the Dodgers looked overmatched against Cristopher Sánchez, and they were trailing, 3-2, going into the seventh. But with two on and two out, it was Teo time, as Teoscar Hernández pounded a four-seamer from reliever Matt Strahm over the right-center-field wall for a three-run shot to give the Dodgers the go-ahead runs.
There would be other big moments in this series, including Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering’s walk-off error in the Game 4 finale. But Hernández’s swing set the tone by swinging a game (the Dodgers won, 5-3), a series and, really, the entire NL playoff picture.
“Thank God it went out of the park,” Hernández said in Spanish.
Blue Jays-Mariners AL Championship Series: By George, he’s done it
The Blue Jays signed George Springer to the largest free-agent pact in franchise history in part because of his postseason pedigree. They didn’t get to see it play out in real time until this, his age-35 season. But boy, was it worth the wait.
On the heels of a resurgent 2025 at the plate, Springer came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 7 of the ALCS with so many hearts in his hands. With two on, one out and the Blue Jays trailing 3-1, the Mariners were just seven outs away from their first AL pennant and silencing a packed Rogers Centre.
But when Springer -- who had been plunked on the right knee by a fastball earlier in the series and was badly ailing -- connected on an Eduard Bazardo pitch for the game-changing, go-ahead three-run blast, he sent all of Canada into hysterics. The Jays went on to win, 4-3, to advance to the World Series for the first time in 32 years.
In terms of it being a triumphant Toronto tater delivered despite an ailing lower half, Springer’s swat was kind of a cross between Joe Carter in World Series Game 6 in 1993 and Kirk Gibson in World Series Game 1 in 1988. But really, it was his own awesome moment. It was the first go-ahead homer while trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later in Game 7 history.
“I had a headache from screaming,” Springer said.
Dodgers-Brewers NLCS: The greatest Sho on earth
The Brewers owned the best record in MLB this year, but the Dodgers owned this series with a clean sweep. And it was completed in a way we’ll be talking about for the rest of baseball time.
Shohei Ohtani had never gotten to showcase his two-way capabilities on the October stage prior to this postseason, but it proved worth the wait. Making the start on the mound in Game 4, he went six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. And at the plate, he belted three home runs, including one that cleared Dodger Stadium’s right-center-field pavilion. The Dodgers rolled, 5-1, to capture their second consecutive NL crown.
No player in MLB history had ever had both a 10-strikeout game and a three-homer game in the same season. Let alone in the same game. Let alone in a pennant-clincher.
Ohtani went on to set and tie more records by reaching base nine times, with four extra-base hits, in Game 3 of the World Series against the Blue Jays -- an incredible offensive performance. But the combo of pitching and hitting that we saw in the NLCS is something we had never seen before and, for all we know, might never see again.
“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "There's been a lot of postseason games. And there's a reason why he's the greatest player on the planet.”
Blue Jays-Dodgers World Series: Two outs equal two titles
Jeez, what a World Series.
The Blue Jays upended their underdog status with a blowout win in Game 1. The Dodgers answered back with a complete-game gem from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, then came out victorious in an endless Game 3 at home. Just when it seemed Los Angeles had all the momentum it needed, Toronto convincingly won the last two games on the road. And just when it seemed the Blue Jays had all the momentum, the Dodgers won a tight Game 6 (so tight a ball literally lodged at the base of the wall on a consequential ninth-inning play) and then came back to win a thrilling Game 7 that went 11 innings.
Now, you might think that the Rojas homer mentioned above -- the solo swat that erased the Dodgers’ 4-3 deficit when they were down to their final two outs – was the biggest Game 7 game-changer.
Or you might think it would be the Will Smith blast that gave the Dodgers the go-ahead in the top of the 11th.
But the play that best defines this ultra-tight, evenly matched World Series was the one that ended it.
The Blue Jays had runners on the corners with one out. Their franchise face, Guerrero, was just 90 feet from tying it at 5. But with Yamamoto on the hill, pitching in his third relief inning on zero days’ rest, Alejandro Kirk hit a ground ball to short. Mookie Betts fielded it, stepped on second for one out and threw to first for the final out.
“Honestly, nobody knows, because they weren’t in my head, but I was so nervous right there,” Betts said. “I had never been in that situation, and I was so nervous. ... As he was pitching the ball, I was talking to myself, ‘Be nasty, just move, just make a play -- just be nasty, be nasty, be nasty.’”
He was nasty enough to make a play that improved the Dodgers’ chances of winning by 46%, which, according to Baseball-Reference, was the highest win probability added of any single play not just in Game 7 but in the entire series.
It just goes to show this great World Series -- and this great postseason -- was not over until it was.