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This year's World Series is headed to a final Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their repeat dreams intact Friday night with a three to one win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling final double play, silencing a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s first title in 32 years.

Sixth Game Summary

The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to score Tommy Edman. Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, handing the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

Betts’ hit snapped a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of becoming the initial back-to-back World Series victors since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning six of the first seven batters he faced. He struck out 8 through three innings, matching a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Toronto ace finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under stress. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second time in a seven days, giving up one run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

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

Relief Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Kirk to open the inning. Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, forcing runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in relief and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to retire Barger, sealing the victory and earning Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The series now boils down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, making him the sole active hurler to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran inked a single-season contract to pursue one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, aiming to be the sport's first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.