It all comes down to this. The 2025 World Series will be decided in a winner-take-all Game 7.
Things could have ended on Friday night, but the Toronto Blue Jays couldn’t close the deal. The Los Angeles Dodgers plated three runs in the second inning, and that proved to be enough. Even when the home team managed to chase Yoshinobu Yamamoto after six innings, they couldn’t scratch out any additional runs.
In a fitting summary of the night, Toronto had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. The tying run came to the plate twice, but a pop-out and a double-play, with Kike Hernandez catching an Andrés Giménez line drive and then catching Addison Barger off second base, ended the game with a whimper.
With all of that in the rear-view mirror, let’s turn the page and look forward to Game 7.
Starting Pitchers, Possible Lineup Changes
On the Toronto side of things, we know that veteran Max Scherzer will get the ball. He might not be the team’s ace, at least by the conventional definition, but he certainly possesses all of the fight and experience you could hope for a player to have with the season on the line.
“Very,” manager John Schneider said when asked about his confidence in the starter. “Him, everyone. It’s the two best words in sports, Game 7. No better guy to have on the mound to kind of navigate the emotions, the stuff. Max has been getting ready for Game 7 when he knew he was pitching Game 3. So, all the confidence in the world in him and everyone tomorrow.”
After Game 6, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he wasn’t yet sure about Saturday’s pitching situation beyond knowing that everyone bar Yamamoto was available. There’s logic, however, for Shohei Ohtani to open the game even if he can only throw a few innings.
If he starts on the mound, the two-way star can remain in the batting lineup as the designated hitter. Should he enter as a reliever, though, he can’t stay in the game after leaving the mount; the Dodgers would lose the DH spot for the rest of the way.
“It’s a possibility,” Roberts said of the option to start Ohtani because of that rule. “We are not certain, but it’s a possibility.”
But both managers stressed that, given the stakes of the situation, everyone other than the Game 6 starters could be called upon.
As for other changes, it’s unlikely that there will be any major shake-ups. The Blue Jays could get some additional right-handed batters into the lineup, but those matchups probably won’t take precedence over getting the best possible talent onto the field.
In the opposite dugout, Roberts might not want to change the lineup that gave him the compete-factor he was seeking.
“We’ll see,” he said when asked about fielding a similar group for Game 7. “Yeah, I mean, I kind of like what we were doing, yeah.”
Game 7’s Key Matchup: John Schneider vs. the Moment
While everyone is important in a Game 7 and it would be easy to key in on the likes of Ohtani or Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Schneider has a big job on his hands.
Throughout the postseason, bench boss has preached keeping things normal and trusting the group. That has paid off thus far, but it’s tough for a World Series Game 7 to be just another outing.
The Dodgers are supposed to be here. They’re the defending champions and have the highest payroll in baseball. The Blue Jays? They missed the postseason last year and, barring a few notable exceptions, haven’t been here before. They also have the weight of a three-decade title drought and an entire nation on their collective shoulders.
The players have to perform, but the manager has to ensure that everyone is ready for the moment.
“See you tomorrow,” he explained when asked what his message to the team was. “It’s going to be electric here. These guys, it’s business as usual, although it’s coming down to one game. These guys are really good at kind of just turning the page. That will take a while to kind of unpack. That’s a wild ending. I love the way we played. Yamamoto was really good again. Had our chances with guys on base kind of as the game went on. But we’re going to be ready to play tomorrow. Everyone’s going to be ready to play. I expect them to be playing cards around 1:00 p.m. tomorrow and kind of shooting the s*** with everyone. It’s going to be fun here.”
But keeping the team on target is only part of the manager’s job. Barring a blowout, he’ll have to make some in-game decisions, whether that’s about pinch-running or going to the bullpen. We’ve seen some debatable moves from Schneider this postseason, like exhausting most of his bench options early into the Game 3 marathon, but he’s also spoken about being authentically himself this season.
Will he stand by that conviction with the series on the line? And, perhaps more importantly, will he be able to push the right buttons and trust his roster when the moment arrives?
The Canadian Context: Have the Blue Jays Ever Won the World Series?
When you think of the Toronto sports scene, the Blue Jays haven’t exactly been a historical powerhouse. Thanks to their position in the AL East, the club spent plenty of time getting beaten up by the Red Sox and Yankees.
With that being said, though, the Commissioner’s Trophy has come north of the border twice. The Blue Jays won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993; the Montreal Expos never took home the title.
And while the Blue Jays’ status as Canada’s only baseball team would always give them a national following, some would argue there’s a bit of extra pride at play given recent U.S.-Canada relations.
The Dodgers Are Chasing Back-to-Back History
The Blue Jays aren’t the only ones chasing a milestone win. The Dodgers are also looking to write their names in the history books as back-to-back champions.
In the history of Major League Baseball, only 14 teams have reached the top of the mountain two or more times in a row. The last to accomplish the feat was the New York Yankees won the World Series in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
The other teams who have won back-to-back (or more) World Series are: The Blue Jays (1992 and 1993), Yankees (1977 and 1978), Cincinnati Reds (1975 and 1976), Oakland A’s (1972, 1973 and 1974), Yankees (1961 and 1962), Yankees (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953), Yankees (1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939), Philadelphia A’s (1929 and 1930), Yankees (1927 and 1928), New York Giants (1921 and 1922), Boston Red Sox (1915 and 1916), Philadelphia A’s (1910-1911) and Chicago Cubs (1907 and 1908).
What the Blue Jays and Dodgers Are Saying Before Game 7
Roberts on how he’s feeling ahead of Game 7:
“I feel great. We’re going to leave it out there. I don’t think that the pressure, the moment’s going to be too big for us. We got to go out there and win one baseball game. We’ve done that all year. Everyone’s bought in. So, I don’t know how the game’s going to play out, but as far as kind of the moment, winning a game, I couldn’t be more excited to get to sleep and wake up to play a baseball game tomorrow.”
Schneider on intentionally walking Ohtani during a three-run third inning:
“Yeah, that’s something we talked about before the series. If there is an obvious chance, take the bat out of his hands, yeah, we’re going to do it. Again, man, they have really good hitters up and down their lineup, so you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t sometimes. You’re always playing with fire with the caliber of Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. So, you take your chances—you know you’re putting some extra traffic on there, but you take your chances with Kev. I like the way he was throwing the ball with the split and just a couple heaters, threw a split to Will and a heater to Mookie that beat us, but that was our plan from the get-go.”
Roberts on what he was thinking watching the line drive that ended the game:
“Stay up in the air. And Kiké just gets great jumps. He is one of my favorite baseball players to watch. He’s one of the headiest baseball players I’ve ever been around. And even just getting off on the ball, the awareness to get to his arm, get the ball into second base. He’s just a heck of a baseball player. And he did that, I think, from left field to first base too in another series, or it might have been this series. But heck of a baseball player, heck of a play.”
Schneider on keeping things normal before Game 7:
“Yeah, they did that [before ALCS Game 7]. We’ve done that a lot. We’ve done that a lot this year. We’ve got voices in the clubhouse and people in the coaching staff that will keep it normal tomorrow. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be three or four or five hours of mayhem and great baseball. But these guys are going to be ready for it. Hopefully they get to slow some things down but enjoy it. It’s Game 7 of the World Series at your home stadium. I mean, what the hell else do you want?”
Where to Watch World Series Game 7
As has been the case for the entire World Series, the action will air on Fox in the United States and SportsNet in Canada. Things get underway at 8 p.m. ET.