L.A. relishes Dodgers' victory

In a World Series win for the ages, Dodgers secure dynasty status

- BY JACK HARRIS

IN EAST L.A. and across the city, fireworks exploded, car horns sounded and fans rushed into the streets to celebrate the win.

(KAYLA BARTKOWSKI Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers’ march toward destiny was completed a quarter past midnight on Saturday evening.

It was unbelievable, indescribable, long-dreamt-of— and yet, the way the night was once headed, entirely unexpected at the same time.

In Game 7 of the World Series, the Dodgers cemented a dynasty with one of the greatest games this sport has ever seen.

They beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings, riding one season-saving play after another to improbably repeat as champions of baseball.

There was a miraculous ninth-inning comeback, when Miguel Rojas tied it with a home run to left field.

There was a frantic escape from a bases-loaded jam the next half-inning — the Dodgers staring down certain defeat, only to once again prevail.

In the 11th, they finally won it, taking their first lead of the game on a Will Smith home run with two outs in the top half of the inning, then watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto - in his third inning of work, a night after throwing 96 pitches in a Game 6 win-close it all out on a double-play grounder to shortstop Mookie Betts.

Already, this World Series had featured seemingly everything: a complete game from Yamamoto in Game 2, an 18-inning marathon in Game 3, two bounce-back Blue Jays wins in Dodger Stadium after that, then the Dodgers staving off elimination in Game 6 in a bid to become the first team since 2019 to reverse a 3-2 Fall Classic deficit.

All of that, however, paled in comparison to Game 7.

For ages, this finale will be remembered. As long as baseball is played, a script like this will never be replicated.

"I'm a little speechless, a little bit shocked that we won this one tonight," retiring pitcher and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw said.