Los Angeles Dodgers Survive in Canada to Set Up Decisive Game 7 in World Series

This year's World Series is going to a final Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their repeat dreams intact Friday night with a three to one win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final twin killing, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to cheer the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their offense in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to score Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Betts came through with a two-run single to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

That key hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' aspirations of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three innings, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second time in a seven days, giving up one run on five hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He improved to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on George Springer two-out base hit in the third inning, scoring Addison Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Relief Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers took over. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before hitting Kirk to start the inning. Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, forcing base runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off Barger, sealing the win and giving Glasnow his first career save.

Next Up: Game 7

The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, becoming the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one World Series Game 7s after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to pursue one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Los Angeles squad, looking to be the sport's initial repeat title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to rely on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.