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TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers conjured a stunning come-from-behind victory in extra innings to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 and clinch back-to-back World Series on Saturday in one of the greatest Major League Baseball championship deciders in history.

A night of jaw-dropping drama at Toronto’s Rogers Centre saw the reigning champions stave off defeat with a game-tying home run from Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning before Will Smith’s home run in the 11th put the Dodgers into the lead.

Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- who had started Friday’s game six victory — then closed out the win by getting the final three outs to crown a heroic personal contribution to the series win and leave the Blue Jays heartbroken.

“We just never gave up,” Dodgers home-run hero Smith said. “Kept fighting, you know, pitching our asses off, taking great at-bats, finally punched through there.

“We know we needed to get a run there. To be able to come in clutch, that was huge. You know, you dream of those moments — extra innings, put your team ahead. I’ll remember that forever.”

Yamamoto — who had thrown a complete game last week in a game two win before helping the team level the series in Friday’s pulsating game six win in Toronto — was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

“I was not sure I could pitch until I went to the bullpen tonight, but I’m glad I was able to,” said Yamamoto, who had re-emerged to join the Dodgers all-hands-on-deck effort in the ninth inning just 24 hours after thowing 96 pitches in Friday’s game six win.

“I did everything I could do, everything I was supposed to do and I’m so happy that I was able to win this with these teammates,” the 27-year-old right-hander said. 

The Dodgers are the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees completed a hat-trick of titles in 2000.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider admitted that defeat was hard to stomach.

“It will hurt for a few days, a few weeks, when you’re that close. The positive person in me will take some time to digest it,” said Schneider, whose team had outplayed the Dodgers on their way to building a 3-2 series lead earlier this week.

“I thought we had chances to sweep them,” Schneider said. “I thought that we played our game, and our game is as good as anybody in baseball. So is it two heavyweights going back and forth, going back to the beginning of the series when people were calling it David versus Goliath, it’s not even close.”