🔗 Share this article

This year's championship series is headed to a final seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their repeat hopes alive on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic game-ending double play, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Betts came through with a two-run single to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of being the first repeat World Series winners since the Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Gausman had been dominant to that point, striking out half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three frames, tying a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits and two walks.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, giving up a single run on five base hits over six frames with six Ks. He improved to four wins and one loss this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on George Springer two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single provided a momentary lift in his comeback to the lineup after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Kirk to start the frame. Addison Barger then hit a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first career save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now comes down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to chase one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to become baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.