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The championship series is headed to a decisive Game 7 after the Dodgers kept their repeat hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling final double play, silencing a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to cheer the team's championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left field to bring home Tommy Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Betts came through with a two-run single to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

Betts’ hit snapped a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Battle

Gausman had been dominant to that point, striking out half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three innings, tying a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, giving up one run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on George Springer two-out base hit in the third, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit provided a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after missing two games with an oblique injury.

Relief Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to open the inning. Addison Barger then hit a double that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in relief and induced a popout before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández caught the ball and threw to second to retire the runner, clinching the win and earning the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with Washington. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to pursue one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.