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The championship series is going to a decisive Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their repeat hopes intact on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending twin killing, silencing a home crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s championship in over three decades.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will 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, handing the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

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

Mound Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he confronted. He struck out 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with 8 Ks over six innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second time in a week, allowing one run on five hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He improved 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, driving in Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. That single offered a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Kirk to open the frame. Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in relief and got a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to retire the runner, clinching the win and giving Glasnow his first career save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in multiple World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to pursue one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.