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Max Scherzer has been here before – literally. Six years ago he dragged his ailing right arm through five innings for Washington in Houston’s hostile park and left with a ring.

Tonight the 41-year-old right-hander becomes only the fourth pitcher ever to start multiple World Series Game 7s, joining Bob Gibson, Don Larsen and Lew Burdette.

He’s faced the Dodgers 24 times in his career, more than any opponent, and comes in 5-6 with a 2.38 ERA against them. Toronto manager John Schneider calls him “the guy who’s been preparing for Game 7 since Game 3”.

Scherzer’s postseason stat sheet is a museum piece: 33rd appearance, 179 career playoff strikeouts (four shy of Andy Pettitte for fourth all-time).

Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer works out ahead of Game 7. Photograph: Nathan Denette/APShare

The city of Toronto is buzzing with the Blue Jays one win from their third World Series title and first in 32 years. Here’s a look at how some of the home fans have gussied up for the occasion as they descend on Rogers Centre for tonight’s Game 7.

Blue Jays fans display signs outside Rogers Centre before Game 7. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/ReutersA pair of Toronto fans, wearing LA hats with Blue Jay figures simulating to defacte on them, stand holding cardboard cut outs of Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr before Game 7. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/ReutersBlue Jays fans rush to gain a vantage point as gates open at the Rogers Centre before Game 7. Photograph: Chris Young/APA supporter of the Blue Jays waves a flag with the CN Tower in the background before Saturday’s game. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/ReutersShare

Dodgers fans in search of a good omen can look southward to Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego county, where Forever Young has just held off a formidable field to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in a landmark moment for Japanese racing.

Our Greg Wood reports from the site:

A fantastic result for Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi, and perhaps an overdue win for Forever Young, who got the worst of the interference in the home stretch in an incredibly tight finish to last year’s Kentucky Derby.

Ryusei Sakai was sitting close behind the pace from the off and struck for home at the perfect time coming off the bend, carving out a lead that Sierra Leone and Fierceness could not close down. The same three horses as last year fill the frame in the Classic, but crucially for Japanese racing, in a different order.

Could it be an auspicious sign for another Japanese athlete looking to make his mark on the global stage just over an hour from now?

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Updated at 19.09 EDT

Preamble

There’s no script for nights like this. Just noise, nerves and nine innings that will live forever.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays meet one final time tonight at Rogers Centre, a Game 7 that feels destined after everything this Fall Classic has delivered – the 18-inning marathon in Los Angeles, the rope-to-second double play that sealed Game 6, and the sight of two teams still standing after six games dripping with white-knuckle tension.

Quick Guide

World Series 2025

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Schedule

Best-of-seven series. All times Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

Fri 24 Oct Game 1: Toronto Blue Jays 11, LA Dodgers 4

Sat 25 Oct Game 2: LA Dodgers 5, Toronto Blue Jays 1

Mon 27 Oct Game 3: LA Dodgers 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5 (18 innings)

Tue 28 Oct Game 4: Toronto Blue Jays 6, LA Dodgers 2

Wed 29 Oct Game 5: Toronto Blue Jays 6, LA Dodgers 1

Fri 31 Oct Game 6: LA Dodgers 3, Toronto Blue Jays 1

Sat 1 Nov Game 7: LA Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays, 8pm

*if necessary

How to watch

• In the US, all games will be broadcast on FOX. If you have a cable/satellite subscription with FOX included, you can also stream via the FOX Sports app.

• In Canada, the English-language broadcast is on Sportsnet while the French-language broadcasts are on RDS and TVA Sports. The games are also streaming on Sportsnet+ (English-language).

• In the UK, the official broadcaster is TNT Sports. A subscription to their service or their app is required.

• In Australia, the rightsholder is the local branch of ESPN Australia and related platforms.

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For the Dodgers, it’s a chance at baseball’s first repeat championship in a quarter-century. For the Blue Jays, it’s a shot at a first title since Joe Carter’s home run rattled Canada in 1993. The matchup could hardly be richer: Shohei Ohtani, the sport’s two-way phenomenon, will start on the mound for Los Angeles, making his fourth outing of the postseason and his first on the road. Ohtani, who’s batting .318 with three home runs in the Series, can remain in the lineup as a designated hitter after leaving the hill – a wrinkle that gives Dave Roberts every reason to hand him the ball from pitch one.

Opposite him: 41-year-old Max Scherzer, who’s starting a World Series Game 7 for the second time in his Cooperstown-bound career. Scherzer already helped the Nationals to the trophy in 2019 and will tonight become the first pitcher ever to start multiple winner-take-all World Series games for different clubs.

A supporter of the Toronto Blue Jays displays a sign before Game 7 of the World Series on Saturday night. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters

Around them stories and subplots abound. Vladimir Guerrero Jr has eight postseason homers and a nation waiting for one more. Freddie Freeman has reached base in every Dodgers game this October. Rookie Trey Yesavage has already set strikeout records. And somewhere in the din, Ohtani will try to deliver one more seismic moment for a team that began its season in Tokyo and now stands 226 days later on the edge of another title.

All hands are on deck. Every reliever, every matchup, every pitch will matter. The road team has won each of the last four World Series Game 7s. The last home club to finish the job? The St Louis Cardinals, in 2011.

So here we are: East v West, dynasty v destiny, a season that started in Japan and ends in Canada. The 121st playing of the World Series comes down to one night. Buckle in.

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Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Owen Weisfeld’s report off Friday night’s Game 6.

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