The stakes weren’t quite as high this time around, but Miguel Rojas just keeps finding his way into key moments to clinch wins for the Dodgers over the Blue Jays.
Rojas took to the mound for the ninth pitching appearance of his career Monday night, closing out a 14-2 win for Los Angeles over Toronto to begin a rematch of last season’s epic World Series.
Of course, it was Rojas’ ninth-inning home run and key defensive play at second base that helped the Dodgers extend Game 7 of the 2025 World Series toward extra innings and, eventually, a second straight championship for the club.
It wasn’t the smoothest inning of Rojas’ brief pitching career, needing 18 pitches (eight strikes) to get three outs. He allowed a leadoff double to Daulton Varsho, walked Myles Straw on four pitches and hit Tyler Heineman -- who pitched a perfect top of the ninth before Rojas took the mound -- with a 60.4 mph eephus to load the bases. An Andrés Giménez groundout plated Varsho before Rojas buckled down, forcing a popout and groundout to end the game.
That moved his career totals from the bump to a 9.00 ERA in 10 innings, while he has yet to record his first strikeout. Perhaps he needs to lean harder on his impersonations of star teammates like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which he pulled out while pitching two innings against the Cubs last season.
But then again, Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani seemed to take something from Rojas while enjoying the end of Monday’s blowout from the dugout. Ohtani imitated a funky-looking release, with his right arm awkwardly coming across his body.
After all, Ohtani is back healthy on the mound, and even the game’s best are constantly looking for new ways to spin it.
Rojas did not play the field in Monday’s win for the Dodgers, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to be a thorn in the Blue Jays’ side during his first trip back to Rogers Centre since his Game 7 heroics. He’s now expected to start at shortstop when the two square off again at 7:07 p.m. ET on Tuesday.