Los Angeles Dodgers Survive in Canada to Force Winner-Take-All Game 7 in World Series

The championship series is going to a final Game 7 following the Dodgers kept alive their repeat hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending twin killing, silencing a home audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the team's first title in over three decades.

Game 6 Summary

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith doubled to left to score Tommy 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 three-run lead.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back World Series victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he confronted. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace finished with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second time in a week, allowing a single run on five base hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

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

Bullpen Effort

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh inning, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before hitting Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Barger followed with a double that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing runners to hold at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, came on in relief and induced a popout before Giménez lined to left field. Enrique Hernández made the catch and fired to second base to double off Barger, clinching the win and earning Glasnow his first career save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The series now boils down to one game. Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one World Series Game 7s after doing so in the 2019 season with Washington. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to be baseball’s initial repeat title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.