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The World Series is headed to a decisive seventh game after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes 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 thrilling final double play, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of being the initial back-to-back World Series winners since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He struck out 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under pressure. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second time in a seven days, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He improved to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third, scoring Addison Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit provided a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to open the inning. Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging base runners to stay at second and third.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, came on in relief and got a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Enrique Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first career save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The series now boils down to one game. Max Scherzer will start for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with Washington. The veteran inked a one-year deal to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, aiming to become the sport's initial repeat champions in almost 25 years, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.