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This year's World Series is headed to a final seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes intact Friday night with a three to one win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling final twin killing, silencing a home crowd that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in over three decades.

Game 6 Summary

The Dodgers produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left field to score Tommy 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 3–0 lead.

That key hit broke a postseason slump and revived the defending champions’ hopes of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Gausman had been dominant to that stage, striking out six of the initial seven batters he confronted. He struck out 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second occasion in a week, allowing one run on five hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out single in the third inning, scoring Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. Springer’s hit offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Kirk to open the inning. Barger then hit a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to stay at second and third base.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and induced a popout before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to double off Barger, clinching the victory and giving Glasnow his first career successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The series now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with Washington. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to chase one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

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