Key events
Dodgers – Blue Jays 0:0, middle of first inning
Scherzer takes the mound to start the fight with Ohtani.
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Ohtani takes two balls, fouls a cutter, then goes solo on the right wing after a substitution.
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Will Smith moves to first base, making the first out but moving Ohtani into scoring position.
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Freeman jumps on the first pitch and flies to center on the second, but Ohtani catches it and takes third.
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Betts takes the ball and then lands hard as the Rogers Center crowd roars. It's a scoreless first inning for Scherzer.
Lineups for tonight
We should be on our way any minute now. Here are tonight's starting lineups:
Los Angeles
Otani, P.
W. Smith, K.
F Freeman, 1B
Betts, SS
Mansi, 3B
T Hernandez, RF
Edman, C.F.
K. Hernandez, LF
M Rojas, 2B
Toronto
Springer, D.H.
Lux, L.F.
Guerrero Jr., 1B
Bishet, 2B
Barger, RF
Kirk, K.
Varsho, CF
Clementa, 3B
Jimenez, SS
It's anthem time in Toronto. First up is Pia Toscano, who placed ninth on Season 10 of American Idol, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And then a giant Canadian flag appears. Noah Reed, of Franklin and Schitt's Creek fame, is set to sing “O Canada!” and the crowd sings some good old fashioned singing. Chills!
Shohei Ohtani once again does the impossible. A month later, when he had already broken both the batting and ace records, he would take the ball for the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, facing 41-year-old Max Scherzer and a seething Rogers Center crowd.
It's fitting that a season that began with Ohtani starting in Tokyo ends with him playing on the mound in Toronto, capping baseball's first open-and-close campaign outside the United States.
The two-way star had never pitched in relief in the majors, so the start of the game made sense under MLB's dual role rule; he can continue to hit as a designated hitter even after leaving the mound. If Ohtani wins, he will become the first Japanese-born pitcher ever to win Game 7 of the tournament. World Series. If he loses, he will still be the story of October.
“As far as pitching goes, I’m not sure,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier today when asked about his preparation for Ohtani. “It depends on how he comes out, how he looks, how he throws, how he feels. So I just want to hold back on expectations and kind of read and react.”
He added: “As far as the pitching plan goes, everyone is available and so I just can't predict how the game will end. I don't think anyone can do that. So we'll see how it goes. But it starts, obviously, with Shohei throwing the baseball. And, yeah, we talked to him last night and he said he was ready to start it. To be able to start it, it allows us to kind of let him run as long as we can instead of having him on his back the end of the game.”
Max Scherzer has been here before—literally. Six years ago, he dragged his sore right arm through five innings for Washington in a hostile Houston park. and left with the ring.
Tonight, the 41-year-old right-hander will become only the fourth pitcher ever to start multiple games. World Series Game 7 featuring Bob Gibson, Don Larsen and Lew Burdett.
He has faced the Dodgers 24 times in his career, more than any opponent, and comes in at 5-6 with a 2.38 ERA against them. Toronto manager John Schneider calls him “a guy who's been preparing for Game 7 since Game 3.”
Scherzer's postseason stats are a museum piece: 33rd game, 179 career playoff strikeouts (four less than Andy Pettitte, which ranks fourth all-time).
Toronto is buzzing with one Blue Jays win out of the third. World Series title and the first in 32 years. Here's a look at how some home fans dressed up for the occasion as they descended on Rogers Center for Game 7 tonight.
Dodgers fans can look south to Del Mar Race Course in San Diego County for a good omen.where Forever Young had just held his own to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in a landmark moment for Japanese racing.
Our Greg Wood reports from the site:
A fantastic result for Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi and perhaps a late win for Forever Young, who was the most handicapped down the stretch in last year's incredibly tight Kentucky Derby finale.
Ryusei Sakai sat close to the pace from the start and struck home at the perfect moment coming out of the turn to take a lead that Sierra Leone and Fierceness were unable to erase. The Classic features the same three horses as last year, but, particularly important for Japanese racing, they are in a different order.
Could this be a good sign for yet another Japanese athlete looking to make his mark on the world stage in just over an hour?
Preamble
There is no script for nights like this. Just noise, nerves and nine innings that will live forever.
Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays will meet for the final time tonight at Rogers Center, a Game 7 that seems preordained after everything this fall classic has delivered – an 18-inning marathon in Los Angeles, a rope-to-second double play that ended Game 6, and the sight of two teams still standing after six games of white-knuckled tension.
Quick Guide
World Series 2025
Show
Schedule
Best of seven series. All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).
Fri 24 Oct Game 1: Toronto Blue Jays 11, Los Angeles Dodgers 4
Sat 25 Oct Game 2: Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Toronto Blue Jays 1
Mon, October 27 Game 3: Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5 (18 innings)
Tue 28 Oct Game 4: Toronto Blue Jays 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Wed, 29 Oct. Game 5: Toronto Blue Jays 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Fri 31 Oct Game 6: Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Toronto Blue Jays 1
Sat, November 1 Game 7: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 8 p.m.
*if necessary
How to watch
• In the US, all games will be broadcast on FOX. If you have a cable/satellite subscription with FOX included, you can also stream through the FOX Sports app.
• In Canada, English broadcasts are available on Sportsnet and French broadcasts are available on RDS and TVA Sports. Games are also broadcast on Sportsnet+ (in English).
• In the UK the official broadcaster is TNT Sports. Requires a subscription to their service or their app.
• In Australia, the local copyright holder is ESPN Australia and its associated platforms.
It's a chance for the Dodgers to win their first repeat baseball championship in a quarter century. It's a chance for the Blue Jays to win their first title since Joe Carter's home run shocked Canada in 1993. Shohei OhtaniThe sport's two-way phenom starts on the Los Angeles mound, making his fourth postseason appearance and first on the road. Ohtani, who is batting .318 with three home runs in the series, could remain in the lineup as the designated hitter after leaving the mound, a wrinkle that gives Dave Roberts every reason to hand him the ball from first pitch.
Opposite him: 41-year-old Max Scherzer, a starter World Series Game 7 for the second time in his career in Cooperstown. Scherzer has already helped the Nationals win the trophy in 2019 and tonight will become the first pitcher ever to pitch multiple winner-take-all World Series games for different clubs.
There are many stories and plot lines around them. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has eight homers in the postseason, and the nation is waiting for another. Freddie Freeman reached base in every Dodgers game this October. Rookie Trey Yesavage has already set strikeout records. And somewhere in the thick of things, Ohtani will try to deliver another seismic moment for a team that started the season in Tokyo and now, 226 days later, stands on the cusp of another title.
All hands on deck. Every pitcher, every game, every pitch will matter. The road team won each of the last four games of World Series 7. The last home club to finish the job? St. Louis Cardinals, 2011.
So here we are: East vs. West, Dynasty vs. Destiny, a season that started in Japan and will end in Canada. The 121st game of the World Series comes down to one evening. Buckle up.
Brian will be here soon. At this time Here's Owen Weisfeld's report from Game 6 on Friday night.
