Los Angeles Dodgers Survive in Canada to Set Up Winner-Take-All Game 7 in Fall Classic
The championship series is going to a decisive Game 7 after the Dodgers kept alive their repeat hopes alive on Friday with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.
The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling game-ending twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to cheer the city’s first title in 32 years.
Sixth Game Summary
The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left to score Tommy Edman. Freddie 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 advantage.
Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and revived the title holders' hopes of becoming the first repeat World Series victors since the New York Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.
Pitching Battle
Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three innings, matching a World Series record, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, yielding three runs on three hits and two free passes.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, 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 only run against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, scoring Addison Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.
Bullpen Heroics
After that, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to open the inning. Barger then hit a double that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing base runners to stay at second and third base.
Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever successful save.
Next Up: Game 7
The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, becoming the sole active hurler to start more than one World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.
The Los Angeles squad, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.