The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays : NPR
George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto.
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Mark Blinch/Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays, with a 4-3 victory Monday night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners, return to the World Series for the first time in more than 30 years.
Their opponent: the $340 million buzzsaw known as the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the largest payroll in baseball, the Dodgers are baseball’s most successful franchise in recent years, with two World Series titles and five National League pennants over the past nine seasons. They have just four victories left to become the first champions to repeat the sport in a quarter of a century.
The Blue Jays in July emerged as one of the best teams in baseball and finished the season 94-68 atop the AL East, a remarkable turnaround from last place in the division in 2024. In the ALDS, Toronto’s bats dominated their division rival, the New York Yankees, putting up 34 runs in four games.
Still, Toronto needed all seven games of the ALCS to return to the World Series. The Mariners brought the Blue Jays to the brink with 14 homers and some dominant pitching performances that helped them take a 2-0 series lead.
But the Mariners, the only MLB franchise to have never reached the World Series, crumbled as the pressure mounted late in the series. With a 3-2 series lead and needing just one win for their first-ever pennant, the Mariners committed three errors in a Game 6 loss and then, after taking a 3-1 lead in Game 7, allowed a late three-run homer by Toronto’s George Springer to dash their hopes again.
“There was no doubt that one of these guys was going to make it. It was just a matter of time,” Toronto pitcher Jeff Hoffman said in a television interview with Fox after the game. “We kept it close enough long enough, and they did it.”
This is Toronto’s first trip to the World Series since 1993, when the Blue Jays won back-to-back titles.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers faces the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium last Friday. Ohtani had ten strikeouts and hit three home runs in a legendary victory.
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Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
In contrast, the 93-69 Dodgers stumbled at times during the regular season, including several late-game collapses because of a shaky bullpen and a humbling September sweep by the last-ranked Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in the playoffs, Los Angeles looked unstoppable. In the NLDS, the 96-66 Philadelphia Phillies only managed one win against the Dodgers. And in the NLCS, Los Angeles swept the Milwaukee Brewers 97-65.
The crown jewel of the Dodgers, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, powered by one hand Los Angeles to their breakthrough victory in Game 4 of the NLCS with three home runs as a pinch hitter and, as a starting pitcher, 6.1 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts – a performance so herculean that it was instantly in the conversation for greatest individual game of all time.
In other words, the Dodgers are firing on all cylinders – and they’ll pose an even bigger challenge to Toronto than Seattle. The Blue Jays excel at fielding balls, which has worked to their advantage in the ALCS. But Los Angeles is a better defensive team than the Mariners, and their starting pitchers are also of a higher level.
But Los Angeles has one weakness: its bullpen, which lost numerous games to the Dodgers in the second half of the season. The Blue Jays might have an opportunity there if they can put more pressure on the Dodgers starters than the Brewers (only two earned runs in four games).
The first game of the World Series will take place on Friday, October 24 in Toronto.
