Los Angeles Dodgers Hold On in Toronto to Set Up Winner-Take-All Game 7 in Fall Classic

The championship series is going to a decisive seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

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

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that stage, striking out half a dozen of the initial seven batters he faced. He struck out eight through three frames, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing one run on five base hits over six frames with six Ks. He boosted his record to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on George Springer two-out single in the third inning, driving in Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to open the inning. Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, forcing runners to hold at second and third base.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in relief and got a popout before Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to retire Barger, clinching the win and earning the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now boils down to one game. 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 Washington. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to chase one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to be the sport's initial repeat title winners in almost 25 years, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.