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This year's World Series is going to a final seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending double play, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to celebrate the city’s championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third frame. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith doubled to left field to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

Betts’ hit broke a playoff dry spell and rekindled the title holders' hopes of becoming the first repeat championship victors since the Yankees won three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, fanning half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three innings, matching a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, allowing a single run on five base 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 George Springer two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Addison Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. That single offered a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, forcing runners to stay at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Giménez hit a line drive to left field. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and threw to second to retire Barger, sealing the win and earning Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The series now comes down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with Washington. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are expected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.