🔗 Share this article

This year's championship series is going to a final Game 7 following the Dodgers kept alive their title defense dreams alive on Friday with a three to one victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic game-ending twin killing, stunning a home audience that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles generated all of their offense in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to score Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' aspirations of becoming the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning six of the initial seven Dodgers he confronted. He struck out 8 through three innings, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star 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 pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched Gausman for the second occasion in a week, giving up one run on five base hits over six frames 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 inning, driving in Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. Springer’s hit provided a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.

Relief Effort

After that, the Los Angeles relievers took over. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Barger then hit a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left field. Enrique Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to retire the runner, clinching the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with Washington. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to become the sport's initial repeat champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a short outing.