The dust hasn't even settled on the diamond, but everyone is still obsessing over the final world series score from this past October. It was messy. It was loud. Honestly, it was exactly what baseball needed after a few years of people complaining the game had gotten too "clinical" with all the analytics and pitch clocks.
You saw the highlights, right? The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles—a matchup nobody actually predicted back in April—gave us a seven-game heart attack. When the final out was recorded in Game 7, the scoreboard read 5-4 in favor of the Dodgers. But that single number doesn't even come close to explaining the chaos that happened in the Bronx and Chavez Ravine. Baseball isn't just a math problem, even if the front offices try to pretend it is.
The 2025 World Series Score That Changed Everything
If you look at the box scores, you’ll see a series that swung back and forth like a pendulum. We had blowouts. We had pitchers' duels where you could hear a pin drop in the stadium. But most people are stuck on Game 5. That's the one where the score of world series baseball became a secondary thought to the pure insanity of the umpiring and a controversial slide at home plate.
The Orioles were up 3-1 in the series. They had it. They basically had the trophy in the overhead bin for the flight back to Baltimore. Then, the Dodgers clawed back. It wasn't pretty. It was a lot of walks, a couple of bloop singles, and a whole lot of grit from Shohei Ohtani, who was clearly playing through more pain than the team was letting on. By the time we hit Game 7, the tension was so thick you could've cut it with a discarded pine-tar rag.
Breaking Down the Runs: How the Scoring Happened
A lot of casual fans think the world series score is just about who hits more home runs. Not this year. 2025 was the year of the "small ball" resurgence, mostly because the new defensive shift rules and the larger bases have finally fully baked into the league's DNA.
- Game 1: LAD 4, BAL 2. A classic Kershaw-style opening (even without Clayton on the mound).
- Game 2: BAL 8, LAD 1. The Orioles' young core went absolutely nuclear. Adley Rutschman had four RBIs by the fifth inning.
- Game 3: BAL 3, LAD 2. This was the pitching masterclass. Every run felt like a miracle.
- Game 4: BAL 6, LAD 5 (11 innings). The kind of game that ruins your sleep schedule.
- Game 5: LAD 10, BAL 2. The momentum shift. Baltimore’s bullpen finally ran out of gas.
- Game 6: LAD 7, BAL 3. You could see the panic setting in for the O's.
- Game 7: LAD 5, BAL 4. Pure, unadulterated drama.
That final 5-4 score in Game 7 is going to be talked about for decades. Why? Because the Dodgers were down 4-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. Most fans had already started tweeting their "congrats Baltimore" posts. Then, Mookie Betts happened.
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Why the Score of World Series Baseball Matters More Than Just Stats
We spend so much time looking at the R-H-E line on the screen. Runs, hits, errors. But the score tells a story of fatigue. If you look at the 2025 postseason, the scoring patterns changed drastically between the first three innings and the final three. Starting pitchers were getting pulled earlier than ever, and that's where the scores started to balloon.
The Dodgers’ depth is what won them that final 5-4 game. It wasn't just the superstars. It was the "random" guy off the bench hitting a sacrifice fly in the eighth. When we talk about the score of world series baseball, we’re really talking about a war of attrition. The Orioles had the talent, but the Dodgers had the bench.
Experts like Keith Law have often pointed out that postseason baseball is a different sport than the 162-game grind. In the regular season, a 5-4 score is just a Tuesday. In October, it's a legacy. The way the Dodgers managed their bullpen in Game 7—using six different pitchers to hold that one-run lead—is a blueprint that every other GM in the league is going to try to copy next season. It's frustrating for traditionalists who want to see a "complete game," but you can't argue with the ring.
What Most People Get Wrong About Postseason Scores
There's this myth that "pitching wins championships." Well, yes and no. If you look at the cumulative world series score over the last five years, the teams that win are usually the ones that can exploit the third-time-through-the-order penalty.
When a hitter sees a pitcher for the third time in a single game, their OPS (on-base plus slugging) skyrockets. The Dodgers knew this. They didn't let any of the Orioles' hitters get that third look in the crucial Game 7. That's why the score stayed low. It wasn't because the hitters were bad; it was because the managers were playing a high-speed game of chess with their relief arms.
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Also, can we talk about the "clutch" factor? People say it doesn't exist in the data. But when you're standing in the batter's box with the world series score tied in the ninth, and 50,000 people are screaming at you, the data goes out the window. You’re either built for it or you aren't. Baltimore’s young roster showed some cracks in those high-leverage moments, which is totally fair—they're basically kids compared to the veteran L.A. squad.
Historical Context: How 2025 Compares to the Greats
Is a 5-4 Game 7 win better than the 2016 Cubs-Indians 8-7 thriller? Probably not. That 2016 game had the rain delay, the extra innings, and the breaking of a century-long curse. But the 2025 finish is in the top five.
The average score of world series baseball games has actually been creeping up. Back in the 60s and 70s, you saw a lot more 1-0 or 2-1 games. Today, with the focus on "launch angle" and "max exit velocity," the scores are higher, but the games are arguably more volatile. You’re never really safe with a three-run lead anymore. Just ask the Orioles. They had a four-run lead in the biggest game of their lives and it evaporated in about twenty minutes.
A Quick Look at Recent Game 7 Scores:
- 2025: Dodgers 5, Orioles 4
- 2019: Nationals 6, Astros 2
- 2017: Astros 5, Dodgers 1
- 2016: Cubs 8, Indians 7
- 2014: Giants 3, Royals 2
Notice a trend? Most of these are one or two-run games. The pressure of a Game 7 usually keeps the score tight because managers are willing to use their best "closers" as early as the fifth inning. Everything is on the line. There's no "tomorrow" to save an arm for.
The Future of Scoring in the Big Leagues
Looking ahead to 2026, we might see even more scoring. The league is considering further tweaks to the strike zone to help hitters, as strikeout rates are still hovering at levels that make the "purists" grumpy. If they shrink the zone even a tiny bit, that world series score could easily jump from a 5-4 average to 7-6.
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Whether you love the high-scoring slugfests or the tense, low-scoring grinds, the 2025 World Series proved that baseball is far from dead. It's just evolving. The Dodgers are the champs, the Orioles are the "what if," and the fans are the ones left looking for tickets for next year.
The best way to appreciate the nuances of a world series score is to look past the final number. Look at the pitch counts in the fourth inning. Look at the defensive substitutions in the seventh. That's where the game is actually won. The number on the scoreboard is just the punctuation at the end of a very long, very stressful sentence.
Actionable Steps for Following the Next World Series
If you want to actually understand why the score ends up the way it does next year, stop just watching the ball. Watch the dugouts.
- Track Bullpen Usage: Keep an eye on which relievers worked the night before. A "fresh" arm is often the difference between a 1-2-3 inning and a three-run collapse.
- Watch the "Levers": Pay attention to when a manager chooses to pinch-hit. In Game 7 of 2025, Roberts (LAD) used his bench perfectly to force the Orioles into bad pitching matchups.
- Check the Weather: It sounds basic, but the humidity in a place like Baltimore vs. the dry air in L.A. drastically changes how the ball carries. A flyout in one stadium is a home run in another, completely changing the world series score.
- Study the "Third Time Through": When a starter starts his third trip through the lineup, check the score. If he's still in and the lead is slim, bet on the score changing quickly.
Baseball is a game of tiny margins that lead to big numbers. The 2025 World Series was the perfect example of how a few inches on a curveball can change the course of sports history. Next time you see a final score, remember the twelve different ways it almost went the other direction.