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This year's World Series is headed to a final seventh game following the Dodgers kept their title defense dreams intact on Friday with a three to one victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending double play, stunning a home audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s championship in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith hit a two-bagger to left to score Edman. Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-run single to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

That key hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of being the initial back-to-back World Series victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning six of the initial seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three innings, matching a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star ended with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second time in a week, giving up a single run on five base hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single offered a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Kirk to start the frame. Barger then hit a double that became wedged under the outfield wall, obliging base runners to hold at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second base to double off the runner, sealing the win and earning the pitcher his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now boils down to one game. Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal 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 brief appearance.