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This year's World Series is going to a decisive seventh game after the Dodgers kept their repeat hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling game-ending twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers produced all of their offense in the third frame. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to bring home Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, giving the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

Betts’ hit snapped a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the first repeat championship victors since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Gausman had been dominant to that stage, striking out six of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned 8 through three innings, tying a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing one 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 only run against him resulted from George Springer two-out single in the third, driving in Addison Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. That single offered a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to open the inning. Barger then hit a double that became wedged under the outfield wall, forcing base runners to hold at second and third.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starting pitcher, entered in relief and got a popout before Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and threw to second to double off Barger, sealing the win and earning the pitcher his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will start for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The veteran inked a single-season contract to pursue one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.