The World Series is going to a decisive Game 7 following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their repeat hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.
The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic game-ending double play, stunning a home audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the team's championship in 32 years.
The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, 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 the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.
Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of becoming the first repeat World Series winners since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 through 2000.
Gausman had been dominant to that stage, fanning half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He struck out 8 through three frames, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He improved to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.
The lone score against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third inning, scoring Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. Springer’s hit offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after missing two games with an side strain.
From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. Rookie Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before plunking Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to stay at second and third base.
Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left field. Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off the runner, sealing the win and giving Glasnow his first career save.
The series now boils down to one game. Max Scherzer will start for Toronto, becoming the sole active hurler to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. 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, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.
