Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

Joe Davis saw it coming, just not from Miguel Rojas.

The Fox play-by-play announcer told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch he was on high alert entering the ninth inning of World Series Game 7, even with the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters due up before Shohei Ohtani.

Davis has called Dodgers games for eight seasons, serving as the team’s lead television voice for the past seven. That experience told him Rojas would give the Dodgers a quality plate appearance with one out in the bottom of the ninth, trailing 4-3.

“You can always count on him for a good at-bat,” Davis explained. “But it was a shocking swing from a guy who, while he hits the ball hard, it’s usually line drives. There was so much focus on Ohtani. Is he gonna hit as the tying run? Will he come up as the go-ahead run? I know my attention was on that, and that’s what made it even more shocking because Rojas does what you are thinking Ohtani might do.”

Rojas pulled a 3-2 slider from Jeff Hoffman 387 feet over the left field fence to tie the game, becoming the first player in MLB history with a game-tying home run in the ninth inning or later of a World Series Game 7. The improbability of the moment registered immediately in Davis’ call.

“DRILLED TO LEFT FIELD AND DEEP, AND GOOONE! NO WAY! MIGUEL ROJAS! DAVE ROBERTS PLAYED HIS GUT! THE GUY HADN’T HAD A HIT IN A MONTH! AND IN THE NINTH INNING OF GAME SEVEN, HE’S HIT A TYING HOME RUN!”

MIGUEL ROJAS HOMERS TO TIE IT IN THE 9TH INNING OF GAME 7!

Joe Davis with the call for Fox. ⚾️💣🎙️ #MLB #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/7AQLi4s61m

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 2, 2025

Rojas hadn’t recorded a hit since Oct. 1 until he singled earlier in Game 7. He was hitless in the NLCS and went 0-for-5 in his first five World Series at-bats before the single. He hit seven home runs during the regular season, six against left-handed pitchers. The seventh came against Giants catcher Logan Porter, who was pitching in a blowout.

Dave Roberts kept Rojas in the lineup for Game 7 after his defensive work in Game 6 helped the Dodgers force a decisive game. Rojas made a barehanded play in the seventh inning and executed the game-ending double play. But he went 0-for-3 at the plate in that game.

The homer ranked as the ninth-biggest play in MLB history by Championship Win Probability, adding 34.9 percent to the Dodgers’ chances of winning the World Series. Davis’ shock came through in the call because the situation demanded Ohtani to deliver, not the light-hitting infielder batting ahead of him.

“That’s what made it even more shocking because Rojas does what you are thinking Ohtani might do,” Davis said.

The Dodgers survived to extra innings, then won 5-4 in the 11th on Will Smith’s solo home run. Rojas contributed another critical play in the bottom of the ninth, fielding a grounder with the bases loaded and getting a force out at home despite stumbling. Smith tagged home plate with Isiah Kiner-Falefa sliding in, beating him by inches.

MIGUEL ROJAS GETS HIM AT THE PLATE pic.twitter.com/lAW2GEcdDh

— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025

Davis called the entire sequence from the booth at Rogers Centre with his United States passport sitting on the counter. The Dodgers became the first team to win consecutive World Series titles since the 2000 Yankees, with Rojas etching his name in baseball history as one of the most unlikely heroes the Fall Classic has ever produced.