The Dodgers narrowly escape the bottom of the ninth
Blake Snell allowed two Toronto baserunners, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bring in Yoshinobu Yamamoto a day after he threw 96 pitches in a Game 6 victory. Yamamoto hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch, loading the bases, before the Dodgers escaped with two helter-skelter defensive plays.
With the infield playing in to prevent the winning run, Rojas fielded Daulton Varsho’s grounder to second base and nearly fell over. He gathered himself and threw home, but the toss briefly pulled Smith off the plate. Smith’s toe barely reconnected with the plate in time to get the forceout, a call confirmed by video review.
Then center fielder Andy Pages, who had just been inserted off the bench to provide better defense, collided with left fielder Kiké Hernández while catching Ernie Clement’s long fly on the left-center warning track. Pages held on for the final out of the inning despite knocking Hernández to the ground.