The MLB 2025 World Series delivered everything baseball fans crave: drama, swings in momentum, iconic performances, and heartbreak that will stick with Toronto for decades. The Los Angeles Dodgers entered as defending champions, while the Toronto Blue Jays arrived hungry, energized, and carrying the weight of a city that hasn’t held a championship parade since 1993.
Over seven games, the MLB World Series delivered blowouts, historic moments, extra-inning madness, and the type of emotional rollercoaster that defines October. The Dodgers repeated, becoming the first National League team to win back-to-back titles since the 1976 Reds, but the story of how we got there is what makes this series unforgettable.
2025 World Series Game-By-Game Recap
Game 1 — Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4
Toronto opened the series at home inside a roaring Rogers Centre, and the atmosphere instantly mattered. The Blue Jays didn’t just compete, they exploded. The defining moment came when Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, flipping the building upside down and giving Toronto complete control of the night.
Los Angeles had no answers. Toronto’s lineup worked deep counts, forced pitching changes early, and punished every mistake. The Dodgers bullpen, usually one of their most reliable weapons, got exposed immediately. Toronto piled on run after run, taking advantage of traffic on the basepaths and feeding off the energy of a fanbase desperate for something to believe in.
The Dodgers’ offense put up a few late runs, but Game 1 never truly felt close. Toronto out-hit, out-paced, and out-energized L.A. from start to finish. It was the exact opening statement the Blue Jays needed: aggressive, loud, and unapologetic. The Dodgers walked off the field knowing they were in a real fight.
Game 2 — Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1
Los Angeles responded immediately. Yoshinobu Yamamoto stepped onto the mound and delivered one of the most important starts of his MLB career: a complete-game gem, allowing just a single run and completely silencing Toronto’s lineup one night after their explosion.
The Dodgers offense didn’t overwhelm, but it didn’t have to. Will Smith and Max Muncy delivered solo homers, the Dodgers manufactured insurance runs, and the overall approach was clean, calm, and calculated. L.A. wasn’t rattled, they were regrouped.
Toronto couldn’t carry over the Game 1 magic. Their bats missed hittable pitches, and their plate discipline slipped. This was Yamamoto’s night from the first pitch. His tempo controlled the game, his curveball was sharp, and his ability to pitch ahead put constant pressure on every Blue Jays hitter.
With the series now tied 1–1 heading to a crucial Game 3, the Dodgers re-established their identity: poise, pitching, and championship-level execution.
Game 3 — Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 5 (18 innings)
This wasn’t just the best game of the series, it’s one of the greatest World Series games ever played.
A record-tying 18-inning marathon, Game 3 turned into a mental and physical battle where both teams emptied their bullpens, burned through substitutions, and played the type of baseball that feels like survival.
Shohei Ohtani had one of the all-time World Series performances: reaching base nine times, including two home runs and four intentional walks. It was dominance, fear, and respect all in one. Toronto matched every Dodgers surge with one of their own, refusing to break even as the game stretched deeper into the night.
But eventually, someone had to crack, and someone had to deliver.
In the bottom of the 18th, Freddie Freeman launched a walk-off homer that ended the marathon and put Los Angeles ahead 2–1 in the series. The crowd in L.A. erupted, the dugout emptied, and the momentum shifted dramatically.
Toronto didn’t just lose a game. They lost hours of emotional and physical investment in a single swing.
Game 4 — Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1
Toronto walked into Game 4 with urgency, and they played like a team refusing to let the series slip away. Shane Bieber delivered a strong outing, pounding the zone and limiting hard contact, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a pivotal two-run homer that set the tone.
Shohei Ohtani started on the mound for the Dodgers but struggled. Toronto attacked early counts, refused to chase, and forced Ohtani to pitch under constant pressure. The Jays capitalized with runners in scoring position — something they’d struggled with before this game, and the crowd backed every moment.
Los Angeles never found rhythm at the plate, and Toronto’s bullpen shut the door. The series was tied again, 2–2, and the vibe swung back toward the underdog. It was one of Toronto’s cleanest games of the postseason, and they walked out believing the championship was within reach.
Game 5 — Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 2
Game 5 belonged to Toronto from the start. With the series tied and tension at max level, the Blue Jays struck early, stringing together hits, attacking fastballs, and pressuring the Dodgers’ defense.
Toronto took a 3–2 series lead, moving just one win away from their first World Series title since 1993. The bullpen delivered clutch outs in the late innings, and the crowd fed off every punch of momentum.
For Los Angeles, this was the first time all postseason where doubt visibly crept in. Their bullpen was running out of fresh arms, and the offense had suddenly gone cold at the worst possible time. The Dodgers left runners on base in multiple innings, failing to capitalize on the few mistakes Toronto offered.
The Blue Jays walked off the field with the city buzzing: one win away, at home, with a chance to rewrite modern baseball history.
Game 6 — Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1
Facing elimination, the Dodgers turned again to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and once again, he delivered. A calm, efficient, and composed outing kept the Dodgers ahead from the early innings.
Los Angeles used a mix of timely hitting and disciplined at-bats to push ahead. Toronto’s offense, which had been so explosive earlier in the series, finally showed cracks. They chased early in counts, struggled to adjust to Yamamoto’s movement, and couldn’t find the big hit they needed.
L.A.’s bullpen locked down the final innings, and the Dodgers punched their ticket to Game 7.
For Toronto, it was pure heartbreak. A home crowd ready to celebrate walked out in silence, knowing they had just lost the best chance they’d had in 32 years. Everything came down to one final game.
Game 7 — Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4 (11 innings)
Game 7 felt like a movie. The Jays took a 3–0 lead behind a Bo Bichette home run and a wave of early-game confidence. The energy in the building was electric.
But champions don’t crumble, they wait. They chip away.
The Dodgers scratched across runs, and in the 9th inning, down to their final out, Miguel Rojas hit a game-tying home run, becoming the first player in MLB history to tie a World Series Game 7 in the ninth inning or later.
The Rogers Centre collapsed into stunned silence.
In the 11th inning, Will Smith delivered the swing that will live forever in Dodgers history — a go-ahead home run, the first Game 7 extra-inning home run in World Series history. Toronto couldn’t answer.
Los Angeles completed the comeback.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who finished the postseason with a 1.02 ERA and multiple clutch wins, was named World Series MVP. The Dodgers celebrated their second straight championship, while Toronto watched a golden opportunity evaporate by inches.
The 2025 World Series wasn’t just great , it was historic.
It featured records, comebacks, heartbreak, international stars, and a level of drama that baseball rarely delivers in one series. The Dodgers cemented a modern dynasty. The Blue Jays proved they belong on the biggest stage.
It was a series built on culture, energy, and regional passion, exactly the type of sports moment that lives forever across both the U.S. and Canada.
The Dodgers celebrated. Toronto endured heartbreak. But baseball won, and the world watched.
