🔗 Share this article

The championship series is going to a final seventh game after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their repeat dreams alive Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s championship in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

The Dodgers produced all of their offense in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left field to score Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit snapped a playoff dry spell and revived the title holders' hopes of being the initial back-to-back World Series winners since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that stage, fanning half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a World Series record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, giving up a single run on five hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. That single provided a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. First-year pitcher Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, forcing base runners to hold at second and third.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off the runner, sealing the win and giving Glasnow his first career successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, becoming the sole active hurler to start multiple seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with Washington. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to be the sport's initial repeat title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.