2025 World Series

The 2025 World Series (branded as the 2025 World Series presented by Capital One) was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2025 season. The 121st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion and defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the American League (AL) champion Toronto Blue Jays. The series was played from October 24 to November 1. The Dodgers defeated the Blue Jays in seven games to win their second consecutive World Series and ninth overall. They became MLB's first franchise to win back-to-back championships since 2000, the first from the NL since 1976, and the eighth overall. Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named the World Series MVP, recording three wins and a 1 ERA. Both teams reached the playoffs by winning their respective divisions; the Dodgers won the National League West for the 12th time in 13 seasons, while the Blue Jays won the American League East for the first time since 2015. In the 2025 postseason, the Dodgers went 9–1 in the NL playoffs, while the Blue Jays earned a first-round bye and went 7–4 in the AL. The Blue Jays made their third World Series appearance, and their first in 32 years, after their back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993. The Dodgers were favored heading into the Series, but the Blue Jays had home-field advantage due to their better regular-season record. The series was closely contested throughout between both clubs. In Game 1, the Blue Jays scored nine runs in the sixth inning to win uncontested. The Dodgers responded in Game 2 with a complete game by Yamamoto, who gave up just one run. The 18-inning Game 3 was the second-longest game in World Series history by time; Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run for the second World Series in a row. However, the Blue Jays seized control with two straight wins in Los Angeles, as the Dodgers bullpen struggled. Back in Toronto, Yamamoto pitching six innings of one-run ball and a critical base-running mistake by Addison Barger tied the series for the final time to force a deciding game. Game 7 was the sixth World Series Game 7 to go into extra innings. With Toronto two outs away from the title, Miguel Rojas tied the game with a solo home run. Will Smith then hit the go-ahead home run in the eleventh. One day after throwing 96 pitches, Yamamoto pitched the final 2+2⁄3 innings to clinch the title for Los Angeles. The series was televised by Fox in the United States and by Sportsnet in Canada. The series averaged 16 million viewers in the U ., making it the most-watched World Series since 2017. Game 7 was the most-watched World Series game since Game 7 in 1991, with at least 51 million viewers across the U ., Canada, and Japan. Several commentators have called the 2025 Series one of the greatest World Series of all time, and its Game 7 one of the greatest World Series games of all time. Several World Series records were broken, including the first pinch-hit grand slam (Addison Barger, Game 1); the most times reaching base (9) and the most intentional walks (4) for a player in a game (Shohei Ohtani, Game 3); the most innings pitched (73 ) by a team in a best-of-seven matchup (both teams); and the most innings caught in a single Series (Will Smith). In addition, Ernie Clement set the record for the most hits for a player in a single postseason (30). Following the series, several sports outlets hailed the Dodgers as a dynasty.