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This year's World Series is headed to a final seventh game following the Dodgers kept their title defense dreams alive on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final double play, silencing a Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to celebrate the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left to score Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' hopes of being the first repeat World Series victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the first seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three innings, matching a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six innings, yielding three runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second occasion in a week, giving up a single run on five hits over six frames with six Ks. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out single in the third, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the frame. Addison Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starter, came on in relief and got a popout before Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off the runner, sealing the win and giving Glasnow his first-ever save.

Next Up: Game 7

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the sole active hurler to start more than one World Series Game 7s after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a one-year deal to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to rely on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.