The Historic Battle – by Santino Ammirabile
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays are in the World Series! The Dodgers have been to the postseason 13 years in a row and won the World Series in 2024. This year in the Wild Card round, they swept the Cincinnati Reds two games to none; in the NLDS, they beat the Philadelphia Phillies three games to one; in the NLCS they swept the Milwaukee Brewers in 4 games. The MVP for the NLCS was Shohei Ohtani. On the pitching side, the Dodgers best pitchers are Blake Snell, Yoshinbou Yamamoto, Roki Saski, and Ohtani. On the hitting side, they have Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Teoscar Hernandez. For the Toronto Blue Jays, this is their first time in the World Series since 1993.
In the Wild Card round, they got a bye, which means they did not have to play in that series. In the ALDS, they beat the New York Yankees three games to one; and in the ALCS they beat the Seattle Mariners four games to three in a classic series. The MVP for the ALCS was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. On the pitching side the Blue Jays have Shane Bieber, Kevin Gausmen, Trey Yesavage, and Max Scherzer. On the hitting side they have: Guerrero Jr., Andres Gimenez, and George Springer (who hit a home run in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the ALCS to put the Blue Jays ahead 4-3 against the Mariners).
In Game 1 of the World Series, the pitching matchup was Snell vs. Yesavage and the Blue Jays won 11-4. In Game 2, the pitching matchup was Yamamoto vs. Gausman and the Dodgers won 5-1. For Game 3, the pitching matchup was Scherzer vs. Tyler Glasnow and the Dodgers won 6-5 in 18 innings in a historic game that lasted almost seven hours. It ended on a walk-off home run by Freeman. In Game 4, the pitching match up was Bieber vs. Ohtani and the Blue Jays won 6-2. For Game 5, the pitching matchup was Yesavage vs. Snell and the Blue Jays won 6-1.
In Game 6, the starters were Yamamoto vs. Gausman. This was an elimination game which means that if the Dodgers lost, the World Series would be over. The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 3-1.
In Game 7, the pitching matchup was Ohtani vs. Scherzer. The Dodgers were losing 4-3 going into the top of the 9th inning when Miguel Rojas, an unlikely hero, tied the game for the Dodgers. In the 10th inning, both teams went scoreless. But then in the top of the 11th inning, Will Smith, the Dodgers catcher, hit a bomb to left field to put the Dodgers ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the 11th inning, with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, Mookie Betts turned a double play to win it for the Dodgers! The World Series MVP was Yoshinbou Yamamoto.