A Game 7 happens when a best of seven baseball series is tied at three games each, making the next game winner take all. In Major League Baseball only two rounds can produce one: the League Championship Series and the World Series. The Wild Card Series is best of three and the Division Series is best of five, so neither can reach a seventh game. The most recent World Series Game 7 came in 2025, when the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5 to 4 in 11 innings in Toronto.
Recent World Series Game 7s
| Year | Result | Site | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4 (11 inn.) | Toronto | Miguel Rojas tied it with a ninth inning homer; Los Angeles became the first repeat champion since the 1998 to 2000 Yankees |
| 2019 | Nationals 6, Astros 2 | Houston | Washington rallied late for its first title; the road team won every game of the series |
| 2017 | Astros 5, Dodgers 1 | Los Angeles | Houston’s first championship |
| 2016 | Cubs 8, Indians 7 (10 inn.) | Cleveland | Ended a 108 year drought after a rain delay before the 10th |
| 2014 | Giants 3, Royals 2 | Kansas City | Madison Bumgarner threw five scoreless innings in relief on two days of rest |
The Greatest Game 7 Moments
Bill Mazeroski, 1960 World Series. The Pittsburgh second baseman led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to beat the Yankees 10 to 9. It is still the only walk off home run to end a World Series Game 7.
Jack Morris, 1991 World Series. Morris pitched all 10 innings of a 1 to 0 Twins win over Atlanta, one of the greatest pitching performances in postseason history.
Edgar Renteria, 1997 World Series. The Marlins shortstop singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to beat Cleveland 3 to 2.
Luis Gonzalez, 2001 World Series. Arizona rallied in the ninth against Mariano Rivera, and Gonzalez’s bloop single over a drawn in infield beat the Yankees 3 to 2.
Aaron Boone, 2003 ALCS. Boone’s home run leading off the 11th inning sent the Yankees past Boston.
Boston’s comeback, 2004 ALCS. A year later the Red Sox won Game 7 at Yankee Stadium 10 to 3, with Johnny Damon homering twice, to finish the only comeback from 3 games to 0 in MLB postseason history.
George Springer, 2025 ALCS. Toronto trailed Seattle 3 to 1 in the seventh inning when Springer hit a three run homer, the first go ahead home run in Game 7 history by a team trailing by multiple runs that late. The 4 to 3 win sent the Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993.
The 2025 World Series. Bo Bichette’s three run homer off Shohei Ohtani gave Toronto an early lead, Miguel Rojas tied the game with a solo homer in the ninth, and the Dodgers won in the 11th, with Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto recording the final outs.
How Teams Manage a Game 7
Game 7 is the one night when nobody saves anything for tomorrow. Managers pull starters at the first sign of trouble, and starting pitchers regularly come out of the bullpen: Bumgarner in 2014 and Yamamoto in 2025, a day after starting Game 6, are the best known examples. Position players are available in any role, and teams often carry every healthy pitcher on the roster into the game.
Starting a Game 7 is rare enough that Max Scherzer, who started for Washington in 2019 and Toronto in 2025, became only the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series Game 7s, after Bob Gibson, Lew Burdette and Don Larsen.
Game 7 in 2026
This year’s League Championship Series and World Series are best of seven, so each could go the distance. The postseason begins with the Wild Card Series on Tuesday, September 29. See how the MLB playoffs work, the MLB playoff bracket and the playoff picture.
Box scores for every World Series game ever played are in Baseball Reference’s postseason archive, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame has more on the players behind these moments.