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The championship series is going to a decisive seventh game after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense hopes alive on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, silencing a home audience that had come ready to celebrate the team's championship in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

The Dodgers produced all of their offense in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left to score Tommy Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to left, handing the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back World Series victors since the Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the first seven batters he confronted. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled his counterpart for the second time in a week, allowing one 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 only run against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third, scoring Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit provided a brief spark in his return to the lineup after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to open the inning. Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, forcing runners to hold at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starter, came on in a relief role and got a popout before Giménez hit a line drive to left field. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to double off Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The series now boils down to one game. 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 doing so in 2019 with Washington. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to chase one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Los Angeles squad, looking to be baseball’s first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.