LA Dodgers Survive in Canada to Force Decisive Game 7 in Fall Classic

The World Series is headed to a decisive Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense dreams intact Friday night with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final double play, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to celebrate the team's championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Summary

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to bring home Tommy Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' aspirations of being the first repeat championship winners since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that stage, fanning six of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing 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 Gausman for the second time in a seven days, allowing one run on five base hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from George Springer two-out single in the third inning, scoring Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single provided a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers took over. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Kirk to open the inning. Addison Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starter, came on in a relief role and got a popout before Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off Barger, sealing the win and earning Glasnow his first career successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to start multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, aiming to be baseball’s initial repeat title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.