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This year's World Series is going to a final seventh game after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense 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 Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to celebrate the city’s first title in over three decades.

Sixth Game Summary

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

That key hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' hopes of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, fanning six of the first seven Dodgers he confronted. He struck out 8 through three frames, tying a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, yielding three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched his counterpart for the second occasion in a week, giving up a single run on five hits over six frames with six Ks. He improved to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, scoring Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single offered a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after missing two games with an side strain.

Bullpen Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Alejandro Kirk to open the frame. Barger then hit a double that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing base runners to stay at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to retire Barger, sealing the win and giving the pitcher his first-ever successful save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, becoming the sole active hurler to pitch in multiple World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

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