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The championship series is going to a decisive Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, silencing a home crowd that had come ready to cheer the team's championship in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their offense in the third frame. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith hit a two-bagger to left to score Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, handing the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit broke a playoff dry spell and revived the title holders' aspirations of being the first repeat championship victors since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Gausman had been dominant to that stage, striking out half a dozen of the first seven batters he faced. He struck out eight through three innings, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Toronto ace ended with 8 Ks over six innings, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled his counterpart for the second time in a week, giving up one run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit provided a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

After that, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Kirk to start the frame. Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starter, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to retire the runner, sealing the win and earning Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The series now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.