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The championship series is going to a decisive seventh game after the Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, silencing a home audience that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in over three decades.

Sixth Game Summary

Los Angeles generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to score Edman. Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship winners since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace finished with 8 Ks over six innings, yielding three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second time in a seven days, giving up a single run on five base hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

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

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the frame. Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing base runners to stay at second and third.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starter, entered in relief and induced a pop fly before Giménez lined to left field. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to retire the runner, clinching the victory and earning Glasnow his first career save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The series now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to start multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with Washington. The veteran signed a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, looking to be the sport's first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.