So many things happened in Game 7 of the World Series, even just from the ninth inning and beyond, that it was hard to fully capture everything.
“It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty,” Kiké Hernández said during
the postgame celebration on Saturday. “But we did the damn thing.”
Here are some leftover notes, facts, and stats that I didn’t have a spot for until now.
Rotation reliance
In a complete 180 from the 2024 championship run, the Dodgers were so full of starting pitchers that extra starters were used in relief this October. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani made all 17 starts during the postseason and accounted for 68.4 percent of the Dodgers’ innings. That quartet combined for a 2.55 ERA with 127 strikeouts in 113 innings.
Yamamoto famously got the final eight outs of Game 7 to cement his World Series MVP award, but Snell also got four outs of relief in the final game to get to Yamamoto. Glasnow pitched in relief three times in October, including Games 6 and 7 of the World Series in his first consecutive days pitched since 2018 with the Pirates. Even Ohtani’s final start in Game 7 was on three days rest, so all four starters went above and beyond and outside of their comfort zone.
Twelve of the Dodgers’ 17 starts lasted at least six innings, which matched the team’s total from the previous six postseasons (2019-2024), spanning 58 games.
In-N-Out of Toronto
The Dodgers ended Game 6 of the World Series with a double play, in which left fielder Kiké Hernández caught a liner and threw to Miguel Rojas, whose scoop at second base secured the victory. In Game 7, it was Mookie Betts — a top-three finisher for a National League Gold Glove Award in his first full season at shortstop — taking Alejandro Kirk’s ground ball to second, then threw to first base to close out the title.
This was only the fourth World Series to feature game-ending double plays two games in a row, and the only Fall Classic in which the final two games ended on double plays.
- 1921: Yankees (vs. Giants) in Games 1-2
- 1960: Pirates in Game 1, Yankees in Game 2
- 1974: A’s (vs. Dodgers) in Games 3-4
- 2025: Dodgers (vs. Blue Jays) in Games 6-7
Inning by inning
Dodgers pitchers did not allow a run in any of the 17 fifth innings of the postseason, holding opposing batters to just eight singles in 57 at-bats (.140/.222/.140) during that frame. The worst inning for Dodgers pitchers was the eighth with 13 runs scored, but only two of those runs came in the eighth inning of the last 12 games.
The most prolific inning on offense for the Dodgers was the seventh, scoring 18 runs, a quarter of their postseason total. The worst inning on offense was the fifth, with only three runs scored.
Dodgers pitchers did not allow a run in any of their 13 extra innings in October, which set the stage for three wins — NLDS Game 4, World Series Game 3, and World Series Game 7.
For the record books
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the first pitcher to win three road games in one World Series.
Freddie Freeman ended Game 3 with an 18-inning home run. He’s the only player ever with two walk-off home runs in World Series history.
Max Muncy hit three home runs this postseason to give him 16 career postseason homers, breaking a tie with Corey Seager and Justin Turner for most in Dodgers history.
Kiké Hernández started all 17 games of the postseason, and his 92 games played for the Dodgers are the most in franchise history.
Will Smith caught all 73 innings during the World Series, more innings than any other catcher in one Fall Classic.
Shohei Ohtani’s three home runs in Game 4 of the NLCS tied Hernández (2017 NLCS Game 5) and Chris Taylor (2021 NLCS Game 5) for most by a Dodger in a postseason game.
Ohtani’s nine times reaching base in Game 3 of the World Series were three more than any other batter in a postseason game. With two home runs and two doubles in that Game 3, Ohtani matched Frank Isbell (1906) as the only other player with four extra-base hits in a World Series game.
Ohtani hit .265/.405/.691 for the postseason, and his eight home runs tied Corey Seager (2020) for most by a Dodger during one postseason. Ohtani also had three doubles and a triple; his 12 extra-base hits tied Seager (2020) for most by a Dodger in a postseason.
Ohtani walked nine times during the World Series, one more than Jim Gilliam (1955) for most by Dodger in the World Series.
