This year's World Series is going to a decisive Game 7 following the Dodgers kept their repeat hopes alive on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.
The defending champions ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final double play, silencing a Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in over three decades.
Game 6 Summary
The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left to bring home Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.
That key hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' aspirations of becoming the first repeat World Series winners since the Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.
Mound Battle
Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three frames, tying a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six innings, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second time in a week, giving up a single run on five base hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.
The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single provided a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an oblique injury.
Bullpen Heroics
From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before hitting Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing runners to stay at second and third.
Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in relief and got a pop fly before Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and threw to second base to retire Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever successful save.
Looking Ahead: Seventh Game
The best-of-seven now boils down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to start multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to chase one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.
The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.
