After six spectacular games and nine drama-filled innings, Game 7 of the 2025 World Series gave us a bonus: extra innings.
It was the final gift from this MLB postseason, which not only featured an 18-inning World Series game in Game 3, but also a thrilling and decisive 15-inning AL Division Game 5 between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. A very dramatic ninth inning sent Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre to the 10th.
For the previous recaps, check out innings 1-5 here, innings 6-8 here, and the ninth inning here.
Where We Left Off
Everyone needed to take a deep breath after that ninth inning. The Jays, who had led since Bo Bichette’s third-inning homer, were two outs from a championship when an unlikely Dodgers hero, Miguel Rojas, cranked out a solo home run off Jays closer Jeff Hoffman to tie the game 4-4. The Jays mounted a threat in the bottom of the ninth against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell that necessitated Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bring in Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After loading the bases on a hit batter, the Jays were denied a walk-off win when Daulton Varsho grounded to Rojas at second base. Rojas threw home to get the out, but not before catcher Will Smith’s foot briefly came off the plate, a call upheld by replay review. Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 4.
10th Inning
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who pinch-ran for Bichette in the bottom of the ninth and was the runner thrown out at home, remained in the game as the Jays’ second baseman. There was a change on the mound as right-hander Seranthony Domínguez replaced Hoffman. Dominguez had been warming up several times during the game. Would that affect his performance? The first batter Dominguez faced was Freddie Freeman, who took an 84.6 mph splitter on the outside third of the plate deep to left field, but Myles Straw pulled it in just a couple steps shy of the wall. Mookie Betts drew a five-pitch walk, then Max Muncy — who homered in the eighth inning — lined a single right past Domínguez and into center field, advancing Betts to second.
Teoscar Hernández came up and, after being down in the count 1-2, had the next pitch spiked into the dirt, fouled off another pitch, and then took a pair of 98.5 mph four-seamers off the outside corner to earn a walk and load the bases. Andy Pages, who came in as a defensive replacement for Tommy Edman in center field to make the crazy inning-ending catch in the ninth, stepped to the plate after being benched before Game 6 due to his lack of offense. Sitting at 1-for-15 (.067) in the World Series and 4-for-50 (.080) this postseason, Pages had a chance to erase those struggles with a big hit following his big catch. But Pages hit Domínguez’s 97 mph sinker on the ground to a drawn-in Andrés Giménez at short, who ranged to his left and threw a strike home to catcher Alejandro Kirk to get the second out.
NOW ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ GETS MOOKIE AT THE PLATE 🤯
The bases were still loaded, with Betts now at third as the go-ahead run, when Enrique Hernández strode to the plate. Hernández took a 1-1 sweeper that might have been above the zone and chopped it toward first base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., playing off the bag with the bases loaded, came in and fielded the ball. Domínguez was sprinting to cover and took the flip from Guerrero as he made a 180 spin in order to get his feet right. But his left foot was initially short, and his right foot was also shy of the bag, but Domínguez was quickly able to put his left foot on first base just before Hernández got there for the out. Hernández went sprawling as his feet got tangled up after hitting the base. Domínguez celebrated with a pump of his right arm, with the Rogers Centre once again roaring its approval. Replay review upheld the out call to end the top of the 10th.
Yamamoto, again, just a day after needing 96 pitches to complete six innings in Game 6, came back out after getting the final two outs of the ninth. Giménez, who had a big AL Championship Series, led off by grounding an 0-2 pitch to second base for the first out. George Springer, one of the more clutch postseason performers in recent years, including the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the AL Championship Series, quickly worked his way into the advantage in the count as Yamamoto wasn’t close on any of his first three pitches, two splitters and then a curveball.
Yamamoto came back with a 90.7 mph cutter in an automatic take situation, then followed with a 90.6 splitter to get the count full. Springer then fouled a 91 mph splitter off the inside of his left foot before striking out on a 92.2 mph splitter down and away for the second out. Straw, primarily a defensive replacement throughout the postseason with only one start in 15 appearances, came up as the last chance to get something going in the 10th. He was just 2-for-17 this postseason and hitless in his last 12 trips. But Straw flew out to right field on a 1-1 pitch.
On to the 11th inning.
