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The World Series is headed to a decisive seventh game following the Dodgers kept alive their title defense dreams alive Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending double play, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s championship in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their offense in the third inning. 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 left, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and revived the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the first repeat World Series winners since the Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the first seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three frames, tying a World Series record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under stress. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, allowing a single run on five base hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He improved to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score 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 lineup after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

After that, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Kirk to open the frame. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging base runners to stay at second and third base.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and got a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to retire the runner, clinching the victory and earning Glasnow his first career successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The series now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to chase one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.