LA Dodgers Survive in Toronto to Force Winner-Take-All Game 7 in World Series
This year's World Series is going to a decisive seventh game after the Dodgers kept alive their repeat dreams intact on Friday with a three to one victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.
The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic final double play, stunning a home audience that had come ready to cheer the team's championship in over three decades.
Sixth Game Recap
The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left field to bring home Tommy Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.
Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of becoming the initial back-to-back championship winners since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.
Mound Duel
Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that stage, striking out half a dozen of the first seven batters he confronted. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing three runs on three safeties and two walks.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under pressure. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second time in a seven days, allowing one run on five base hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.
The lone score against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, driving in Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his comeback to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.
Relief Heroics
After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. Rookie Justin Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to open the frame. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the outfield wall, obliging base runners to stay at second and third.
Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in relief and got a popout before Giménez lined to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to double off the runner, sealing the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever successful save.
Looking Ahead: Seventh Game
The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.
The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a short outing.