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

The defending champions halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling final double play, stunning a home audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith doubled to left to score Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-run single to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the title holders' aspirations of being the initial back-to-back championship winners since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He struck out eight through three frames, tying a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled his counterpart for the second occasion in a seven days, giving up a single run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from George Springer two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit provided a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers took over. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to open the inning. Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the outfield wall, obliging runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in relief and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to double off Barger, sealing the victory and earning the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now boils down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, making him the only living pitcher to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so 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, looking to be baseball’s initial repeat title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.