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The championship series is headed to a decisive Game 7 following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their repeat hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final twin killing, stunning a home crowd that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in over three decades.

Sixth Game Summary

The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of being the initial back-to-back World Series victors since the Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, striking out half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He struck out 8 through three innings, matching a World Series record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace finished with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing a single run on five base hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on George Springer two-out base hit in the third, scoring Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his comeback to the lineup after missing a pair of contests with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to open the frame. Addison Barger then hit a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and threw to second to retire Barger, sealing the victory and giving the pitcher his first career successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Los Angeles squad, looking to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.