The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series on November 1, 2025, edging the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 in 11 innings and becoming the first team since the 2000 New York Yankees to win back-to-back championships.

The Dodgers did not win cleanly or comfortably. They trailed late, then got a ninth-inning home run from Miguel Rojas to force extra innings and a decisive blast from Will Smith in the 11th. Their championship-clinching rally came after a night defined by pressure, missed chances and several defensive plays that kept the game alive long enough for the Dodgers to steal it on Toronto’s field.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was central to the finish. ESPN described him as the likely World Series MVP after he provided the closing outs in a game that demanded everything from the Dodgers’ pitching staff. He had already been heavily used in the postseason, and the club had leaned on a rotation that included Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell in the final series. The Dodgers’ pitching depth became the backbone of their title run, even as the game itself went deep into the night.

The Blue Jays were within striking distance throughout the late innings. They loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but could not score, and the Dodgers’ defense answered with a series of crucial plays. Rojas made an off-balance throw home to erase one chance, while Andy Pages tracked down a deep drive in left-center field that might have ended the game if it had dropped. Those moments sent the game into extra innings and set up Smith’s winner.

The victory capped a season that was stronger in October than the regular-season record suggested. The Dodgers finished with 93 wins, far below the pace many expected from a roster filled with stars, but they regrouped as the postseason began. They advanced past Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Milwaukee before outlasting Toronto in the final round. Along the way, their rotation regained form and their October performance erased the old criticism that the club could dominate the summer but fade in the postseason.

Clayton Kershaw, who was preparing to enter the bullpen in the final innings, said he nearly missed the moment the Dodgers clinched because he was focused on his own late-career role. The emotion around him was immediate when the final double play was turned and the title was secure. For Los Angeles, the result added a third championship in six years and confirmed that its current core has become more than a regular-season power.