TORONTO (AP) — In a World Series for the ages that went back and forth again and again, Will Smith delivered the biggest swing of all for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Smith connected in the 11th for the first extra-inning homer in a winner-take-all title game, and Miguel Rojas became the first player to hit a tying home run in the ninth inning of a Game 7. On a roller-coaster night of see-sawing emotions, the Dodgers outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 Saturday to become the first repeat champion in a quarter century.

“You dream of those moments,” Smith said after the 4-hour, 7-minute thriller. “I’ll remember that for forever.”

In the type of dramatic Game 7 that kids conjure in backyards, the Blue Jays led 3-0 on Bo Bichette’s third-inning homer off Shohei Ohtani and 4-2 before Max Muncy’s eighth-inning solo homer off star rookie Trey Yesavage.

Toronto was two outs from its first championship since 1993 when Rojas, inserted into the slumping Dodgers lineup in Game 6 to provide some energy, homered on a full-count slider from Jeff Hoffman and stunned the Rogers Centre crowd of 44,713.

“I’ve cost everybody in here a World Series ring,” Hoffman said.

Rojas hadn’t homered since Sept. 19.

“I had a conversation with my wife,” he said. “She told me something big was waiting for me.”

World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half, and Toronto reliever Seranthony Domínguez stranded three Dodgers runners in the 10th.

Smith, who hit a go-ahead homer in Game 2, sent a 2-0 pitch from Shane Bieber into Toronto’s bullpen in left field, where it bounced into the seats and gave the Dodgers their first lead of the night. Running between first and second, Smith raised his arms in triumph.

“He hung a slider,” Smith said. “I banged it.”

Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, was making his first relief appearance since 2019.

“He was looking for it and I didn’t execute,” he said.

Of course, there had to be even more drama in just the sixth winner-take-all Series game to go extra innings. It matched the Marlins’ 3-2 win over Cleveland in 1997 as the second-longest Game 7, behind only the Washington Senators’ 4-3, 12-inning victory against the New York Giants in 1924.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled leading off the bottom of the 11th and was sacrificed to third. Addison Barger walked and Alejandro Kirk hit a broken-bat grounder to shortstop Mookie Betts, who started a title-winning 6-6-3 double play. It was only the second double play to end a Series, after the Yankees turned one in 1947 against the Dodgers.

“I thought we had chances to sweep them,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Going back to the beginning of the Series when people were calling it David vs. Goliath, it’s not even close.”

Smith set a Series record by catching 73 innings. Betts earned his fourth title in the finale of baseball’s 150th major league season, the first that began and ended outside the United States.

In the Dodgers bullpen for the last game of his decorated 18-year career, Clayton Kershaw lost track of the outs.

“When he hit the double play, I thought the run scored and it was tied,” he said. “I thought I had the next batter.”

Los Angeles and its $500 million roster overcame a 3-2 Series deficit on the road. The Dodgers became the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three in a row, and the first from the National League since the 1975 and ’76 Cincinnati Reds.

With their ninth championship and third in six years, the Dodgers made an argument for their 2020s teams to be considered a dynasty. Dave Roberts, their manager since 2016, boosted the probability he will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.

“To do what we’ve done in this span of time is pretty remarkable,” Roberts said. “I guess let the pundits and all the fans talk about if it’s a dynasty or not.”

After throwing 96 pitches in a Game 6 win Friday, Yamamoto tossed 43 more over 2 2/3 innings for his third win of the Series. He finished the postseason 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA.

“Before I went in, to be honest, I was not really sure if I could pitch up there to my best ability,” Yamamoto said through a translator. “But as I started getting warmed up … I started making a little bit of an adjustment, and then I started thinking I can go in and do my job.”

This Series produced the World Series’ first pinch-hit grand slam, its first complete game in a decade, an 18-inning Game 3 featuring Shohei Ohtani reaching base nine times, six outs on the bases and Freddie Freeman becoming the first to hit two walk-off homers, the first back-to-back homers opening a game, Yesavage striking out a rookie-record 12 just six weeks after his debut, and the first game-ending double play in which an outfielder had a putout or assist.

“That game had every single thing you could possibly have,” Freeman said. “Just an absolutely incredible game, incredible Series.”

Los Angeles used all four of its postseason starting pitchers, with Yamamoto joined by Ohtani and Glasnow (2 1/3 innings each) and Blake Snell (1 1/3 innings).

Bichette, eyes bulging, put Toronto ahead in the third with a 442-foot drive off Ohtani, the two-way star pitching on three days’ rest after taking the loss in Game 4.

Los Angeles closed to 3-2 on sacrifice flies from Teoscar Hernández in the fourth off 41-year-old Max Scherzer, just the fourth pitcher to start multiple winner-take-all Game 7s, and Tommy Edman in the sixth against Chris Bassitt.

Andrés Giménez restored Toronto’s two-run lead with an RBI double in the sixth off Glasnow, who relieved after getting the final three outs on three pitches to save Game 6 on Friday.

There was so much more to come.

Related Articles

Charley Walters: Torii Hunter talked to Twins about managerial job but wasn’t interviewed

Twins’ Byron Buxton ‘aced the test’ this season

Walk-off loss sends Twins into an offseason filled with uncertainty

A look toward future: How did Twins’ top 10 prospects perform this year?

Twins fall as Ryan shelled in shortest outing since last August

In a Series filled with key defensive plays, Rojas stumbled in the ninth while fielding Daulton Varsho’s one-out, bases-loaded grounder off Yamamoto. Rojas managed to throw home for a forceout as Smith kept his foot on the plate to beat Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had taken an unusually short 7.8-foot lead off third.

Ernie Clement then flied out to center fielder Andy Pages, who had just come off the bench for defense. Pages sprinted 121 feet and made a jumping, backhand catch on the left-center warning track as he crashed into left fielder Kiké Hernández.

Then with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th, Pages grounded to shortstop, where Giménez threw home for a forceout. Guerrero fielded a grounder to the right side and tossed to Domínguez covering first, just beating Hernández in a call upheld upon video review.

Visiting teams have won five straight World Series Game 7s after home teams won nine in a row from 1982 to 2011.

While the Dodgers were sprayed with silver confetti and they celebrated, the Blue Jays pondered how close they came in falling short. Eyes were red and voices cracked amid the sobbing.

“I’ve been crying for like probably for an hour,” Clement said long after the final out. “I thought I was done with the tears.”

In the midst of the celebration, Freeman already looked ahead to the big, bad Dodgers taking on the rest of baseball again in 2026.

“The Yankees are three-time back-to-back,” he said, “so we get to use that same narrative next year.”

HONORS

Lynn Noren

The Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Roseville, announced that Lynn Noren has received its 2025 MOHR Legacy Leader Award, honoring recently retied individuals for their contributions to the field of disability services. Noren retired in December as CEO of Rise, a Fridley-based provider of employment services and social services for people with disabilities. … Bemidji State University unveiled its 2025 class of distinguished alumni honorees: Dr. Kenneth Anderson ’03, instructor, Pikos Institute; Christine Imbra ’80, professor emerita, St. Cloud State University, and Tuleah Palmer ‘00, president and CEO, Blandin Foundation. Additionally, Michael Herbert ‘79 professor emeritus of criminal justice at Bemidji State, has been named an Alumni Service Award winner. … The Washington County Community Development Agency announced the following local awards bestowed by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials: Outstanding Professional of the Year: Melissa Taphorn, CDA executive director; and Bluestem Apartments, Cottage Grove, Community Innovation Award of Merit and Award of Excellence in the Affordable Housing category.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co., a Minneapolis-based provider of professional liability insurance for attorneys, announced the election of Harold Goldner as chair of its board of directors. He succeeds John Bowden, who will continue to serve on the board. Goldner is a principal at Friedman Schuman Layser in Fort Washington, Pa. … Värde Partners, a global alternative investment firm with headquarters in Minneapolis and New York, announced the elevation of Missy Dolski to partner and global head of Asset-Based Finance and the hiring of Jim Lees as managing director, Asset-Based Finance. Lees most recently served as a managing director on the ABF team at KKR & Co. Inc.

LAW

Ballard Spahr announced that Matthew Ebert has joined the firm’s Litigation Department as of counsel in the Minneapolis office. Ebert is a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. … Fredrikson announced that attorney Lindsey M. Pederson has joined the firm’s Corporate, Finance & Securities and Mergers & Acquisitions groups in the Minneapolis office. … The Eighth Circuit Bar Association announced the Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service was awarded to attorney Thomas H. Boyd of the Minneapolis law firm Winthrop & Weinstine. Boyd previously clerked for the Honorable Ronald E. Longstaff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa and later for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, then chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is a member of the American Law Institute.

MANUFACTURING

The Toro Co., a Bloomington-based maker of lawn mowers and snow removal machines for consumers and businesses, announced the promotion of Grant M. Young to group vice president of Golf, Grounds and Irrigation. Young succeeds Edric Funk, who was recently appointed president and chief operating officer. Young has served as vice president of Commercial since 2023. … H.B. Fuller Co., a Vadnais Heights-based maker of glues, coatings and sealants for industry and consumers, announced the appointment of Celine Martin to its board of directors, effective Dec. 1. Martin most recently served from 2022 to 2025 as the company group chairman of the Cardiovascular & Specialty Solutions Group at Johnson & Johnson.

MILESTONES

WSI Sports, an Eagan-based provider of specialty athletic wear, is celebrating 35 years in business. The company’s clients include professional major-league athletes Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Larry Fitzgerald, Joe Mauer and Kobe Bryant. Joel Wiens is founder and CEO.

NONPROFITS

Jeremiah Program, a Minneapolis-based national anti-poverty organization serving single mothers and their children, announced the appointment of Amanda Luedtke as executive director of its Minneapolis campus. Luedtke most recently served as senior division director of Children and Family Services at Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

REAL ESTATE

45 North Group, a St. Louis Park-based commercial real estate firm, announced the appointment of Becky Sonmore as a senior project manager. Sonmore most recently served in a similar role at RSP Architects.

SERVICES

Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory and executive search firm, announced the opening of an office at 30 South 9th St. 7th Floor, Minneapolis.

Related Articles

Business People: MAC Chair Rick King announces retirement

Bria Shea named president of Xcel Energy for Minnesota, the Dakotas

Business People: City & County Credit Union announces top executive transition

St. Paul: Downtown small-business owners share concerns with lawmakers

Harry Colbert Jr. named vice president of Center of Broadcast Journalism

EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.

Dating nightmares make for cynical comedy in Minnesota Opera’s production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Così fan tutte.” Under Doug Scholz-Carlson’s direction, the ending is put in the hands of the audience, who vote on how the ridiculous plot resolves.

“Così fan tutte” was Mozart’s third collaboration with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, after “The Marriage of Figaro,” and “Don Giovanni.” Some themes from those earlier works reappear in the new collaboration — questions of infidelity and amorality, for example. In “Così fan tutte,” Da Ponte satirizes notions of romance and leans into the trope that women are inherently fickle.

Scholz-Carlson’s staging pushes against the deep misogyny of Da Ponte’s libretto by accentuating the buffoonery of the two male romantic leads.

Ángel Vargas as Ferrando and David Wolfe as Guglielmo play their roles as complete doofuses. From the first scene where they play video games while drinking Busch Light with their friend Don Alfonso (John Mburu), the two young men act like dude bros with their sporty look and lack of world wisdom.

It’s a wonder Fiordiligi (Kylie Kreucher) and Dorabella (Kara Morgana) ever found these nincompoops marriageable in the first place.

The men are easily persuaded by Don Alfonso, who believes all women are cheaters, to stage an elaborate ruse to trick their partners. Each disguises himself in beards and less preppy attire (the women wonder if they are hippies or lumberjacks), and woo each other’s opposite partner.

Their machinations carry a flaw: In tricking their fiancées to find out if they are trustworthy, they prove themselves untrustworthy. That ironic twist fits into a broader satirization of traditional norms and morals, implying a rather libertine view that faithfulness is impossible, at least as far as women are concerned.

Related Articles

Review: Mixed Precipitation’s zany production fuses Mozart’s classic opera with doo-wop music

Of the four leads, Vargas and Kreucher get the most solo moments. In “Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo,” Vargas demonstrates vulnerability, while Kreucher’s technical ability shines in the challenging, octave-jumping aria “Come scoglio,” when Fiordiligi anguishes over her temptation to flirt with Ferrando.

They also make two parts of a trio that also features Don Alfonso, in one of the opera’s highlights.

As the sassy employee at Fiordiligi and Dorabella’s firm, Despina gets two arias as well which she uses to encourage her employers to flirt outside their primary relationships. Lindsay Ohse  steals more than a few scenes not only with her singing, but her comic ability as well, including disguising herself as a doctor and a notary along the way.

When singing together, Kreucher and Morgana’s voices blend wonderfully, capturing Mozart’s delightful harmonies with lightness. There are also a number of excellent quartets and sextets throughout, where the characters bring Mozart’s complex melodies and vocal structures to life.

The design team has created a sleek, mod look. Paul Whitaker’s settings feature huge picture windows and minimalist furniture, while Amber Brown’s costume design recalls an early 1960s aesthetic in its contemporary looks. Wig, hair and make-up designer Emma Gustafson, meanwhile takes on the task of making our two male heroes terrible disguises just believable enough to fool their partners.

This production of “Così fan tutte” allows Mozart’s score to sparkle, even as the story’s games of love and deceit paint a rather bleak picture of love in the world today.

 

Who: The Minnesota Opera

What: Così fan tutte

When: 7:30 p.m. Thu., Nov. 6, Sat., Nov 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov 9,

Where: The Ordway, 345 Washington St. Saint Paul

Tickets: $31-$273 at mnopera.org.

Accessibility: Elevators access all floors of Concert Hall, accessibility seating for all mobility devices (request when buying tickets); service animals welcome (inform ticket representative); listening units and large print available upon request. One single occupancy, accessible restroom in the Music Theater lobby. Ordway.org/visit/accessibility.

Capsule: Minnesota Opera accentuates the satire in its “Così fan tutte.”

(Mike Lynch)

The best news for stargazers in November is that nights are much longer and you can start your stargazing well before 7 p.m. It is cooler, of course, but once you’re out there with something warm in a thermos cup, you’re more than good to go.

This Wednesday we have a full moon. It’s considered a “supermoon” because it’s a little closer to Earth than average. Our lunar companion makes it tough for stargazers to see fainter stars and constellations. The second and third weeks of November will be better for evening stargazing with the moon pretty much out of the sky.

One of the major stories this November is the interstellar comet, 3I Atlas, an extremely rare comet from another star system. It was discovered this past July, and this month it’s finally possible to see it, though not with your naked eye. Chances are you’ll need a fairly powerful telescope or a way to photograph it using a conventional astrophotography setup, or maybe one of those much less expensive all-in-one smart telescopes like SeeStar or Dwarf. Atlas 3I may surprise us, though, and be brighter than expected. Comet 3I Atlas will be on the rise in predawn skies. Early in the month it rises in the eastern skies just before morning twilight kicks in but as November continues it’ll rise earlier and earlier. By the end of the month it’ll be better than halfway from the horizon to the zenith in the southeastern skies. The best way to find it is to use a stargazing app. Most of them, at least at the basic level, are free. I recommend either Sky Guide or Celestron Sky Portal.

Believe it or not, a few summer constellations are still available in the western sky in the early evening. Cygnus the Swan, Lyra the Harp, Aquila the Eagle, Delphinus the Dolphin, and a few others continue their gradual westward migration, making their slow exit from the evening stargazing stage.

In the high southern sky is one of the prime autumn constellations, Pegasus the Winged Horse, with Andromeda the Princess tagging along. Use your Sky Guide App to locate the Andromeda Galaxy, a great telescope target in the constellation Andromeda. If it’s dark enough where you’re viewing from, it’s possible to see with the naked eye, well over 2 million light-years away!

Turn around and face north and you’ll see an old friend, the Big Dipper, very low in the sky, and partially below the horizon in some locations. The Little Dipper, otherwise known as Ursa Minor, is hanging by its handle higher in the northern sky. Cassiopeia the Queen, the constellation that looks like a giant sideways W, is proudly showing off her stuff in the high northeast. The W outlines the throne of Queen Cassiopeia, with her majesty tied up in it. Just below Cassiopeia in the constellation Perseus, the Hero is an absolute must-see. It’s the Perseus Double Cluster. This one you can see for sure in the dark countryside. Just use a small telescope or binoculars. It’ll blow your mind! Through your field of view you’ll see two clusters of stars huddled close together. Astronomically, they’re young families of stars that all formed together, and they’re over 7,000 light-years away!

As November progresses you can’t help but notice a barrage of bright stars rising in the eastern heavens. These are many of the magnificent constellations of winter! My nickname for this part of the heavens is “Orion and his Gang.” It’s also called “The Winter Football, among other names. The majestic constellation Orion the Hunter is the centerpiece. Part of that gang includes the Pleiades, the best star cluster in the sky, resembling a miniature Big Dipper. By the way, the Pleiades are a little over 400 light-years away. If you magically “pull in” the aforementioned Perseus Double Cluster to the distance of the Pleiades, the Perseus Double Cluster would take up about a quarter of the sky!

Saturn is one of two planets you can see easily with the naked eye in the early evening. As evening twilight fades, it’s already well above the southeast horizon. Aim even a small telescope at Saturn, and you’ll see its ring system, but not as well as you usually can. The angle of the very thin ring system is still nearly on edge from our view on Earth, but month by month, that angle is opening up as Saturn and Earth travel along their individual orbits around the sun. For sure, you can, at least, since some of Saturn’s many moons, including Titan, its largest moon that’s as big as the planet Mercury.

If you’re a night owl stargazer, Jupiter will dazzle you, emerging from the east-southeast horizon around 11 p.m. the first week of November, but thanks to the Earth’s progression around the sun and the end of daylight-saving time, the big guy of the solar system rises a little after 8 p.m. You can’t miss it! Jupiter will be the brightest star-like object in the evening sky this coming winter. With even a small telescope or decent binoculars, you can also catch the nightly show put on by Jupiter’s four moons.

Put on that warm jacket and enjoy the fabulous November night skies!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

Related Articles

Skywatch: Celestial monsters and a ghost

Skywatch: The great flying horse of the sky

Skywatch: The ribbon of wonder and two evening comets

Skywatch: A Harvet “Supermoon” this week and a new comet

Skywatch: Overlapping stellar seasons in October