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The World Series is headed to a decisive seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense dreams alive on Friday with a three to one win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending double play, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-run single to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a playoff dry spell and revived the title holders' aspirations of becoming the first repeat World Series victors since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the initial seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three frames, tying a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing one run on five base hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single offered a brief spark in his return to the lineup after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Kirk to open the inning. Addison Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starter, came on in relief and induced a popout before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off Barger, sealing the win and giving the pitcher his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

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