Game 7 ninth inning: How Dodgers' Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages created one of the most exciting frames in baseball history

Dan Treacy

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Game 7 ninth inning: How Dodgers' Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages created one of the most exciting frames in baseball history image

For Toronto Blue Jays fans, the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series was difficult, but Game 7 proved to be an even tougher challenge.

With only two outs separating them from a championship, the Blue Jays saw the Los Angeles Dodgers even the score on an unlikely home run, giving Toronto an opportunity to secure the title with a walk-off victory in the bottom half of the inning.

With only one out and just 90 feet separating them from a championship, the Blue Jays required a specific outcome to secure the series victory. The Dodgers' latest heroic performance caused that chance to vanish.

Let's examine the sequence of events that dramatically altered Game 7 of the World Series.

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Miguel Rojas's home run

As Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to bat third in the ninth inning's top half, with The Dodgers down by a single run, supporters could easily envision the three-time MVP potentially tying Game 7. Few could have imagined it would be L.A.'s No. A ninth batter who could outhit Ohtani.

Miguel Rojas, a player with only seven regular-season home runs and a career total of just one double-digit home run season over 12 major league years, launched a game-tying blast to left field, bringing to mind Rajai Davis' A long shot to tie the game in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

The Dodgers concluded their offensive efforts in the top of the ninth inning, yet Rojas emerged as a hero, achieving this feat just one day after being inserted into the lineup as part of a strategic adjustment by Dave Roberts. 

MORE: The benches were emptied in Game 7 of the World Series for the following reasons.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joining

In the bottom of the ninth inning, with two runners on base for The Blue Jays and their season hanging in the balance, the Dodgers opted to bring in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, despite him having pitched 96 pitches just the previous day.

In an attempt to emulate Randy Johnson's 2001 feat of leading his team to a championship by pitching in relief the day after starting, Yamamoto hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch and filled the bases, leaving no room for mistakes. He remained unfazed.

Yamamoto managed to escape the difficult situation, thanks to two remarkable defensive efforts, and then came back for the tenth inning.

MORE: Every Game 7 in World Series history

Miguel Rojas's force-out play

Miguel Rojas made a fantastic play for the second out of the inning, spotting the potential winning run heading home. He nearly fell backward but managed to throw a precise ball to Will Smith, securing the force out. 

Dodgers fans had to hold their breath while the play was reviewed, as Smith's foot appeared to come off of home plate when he caught the ball, but it quickly became clear he got his foot back down in time to get the Isiah Kiner-Falefa's charge. 

MORE: How near was Shohei Ohtani to joining the Blue Jays?

Andy Pages' grab

Ernie Clement, now the single-season postseason hits leader with 30, could have won the World Series for the Blue Jays with hit No. 31. For a moment, it seemed he might.

Clement sent a deep drive to left-center, and as Andy Pages and Kiké Hernández converged, the ball had a chance to drop in. It did not. Pages and Hernández collided, but it was Pages—who had just entered as a defensive replacement for Tommy Edman—who leapt higher and made the catch on the warning track, preserving the Dodgers’ season.

Dan Treacy

Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.