🔗 Share this article

The World Series is going to a decisive seventh game following the Dodgers kept alive their title defense dreams alive on Friday with a three to one win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling game-ending twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to celebrate the team's championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third frame. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a postseason slump and revived the defending champions’ aspirations of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three innings, tying a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched Gausman for the second time in a seven days, giving up a single run on five hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He improved to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from George Springer two-out single in the third, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. Springer’s hit provided a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth before plunking Kirk to start the frame. Addison Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging runners to hold at second and third.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in relief and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to retire Barger, clinching the victory and earning Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, becoming the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's initial repeat title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.