🔗 Share this article

This year's championship series is headed to a decisive Game 7 following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense dreams intact Friday night with a three to one victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, silencing a home crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's championship in over three decades.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith hit a two-bagger to left to bring home Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-run single to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a playoff dry spell and rekindled the title holders' hopes of becoming the first repeat World Series victors since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, striking out six of the initial seven batters he faced. He fanned 8 through three innings, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third, scoring Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his return to the lineup after sitting out a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, forcing base runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and threw to second base to double off the runner, clinching the win and giving Glasnow his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the sole active hurler to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with Washington. The veteran signed a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's initial repeat title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to rely on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.