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This year's World Series is going to a decisive Game 7 after the Dodgers kept their title defense hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic game-ending double play, silencing a home audience that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's championship in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left to bring home Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-run single to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned 8 through three frames, matching a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, allowing a single run on five base hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the frame. Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the outfield wall, forcing runners to stay at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and got a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Enrique Hernández made the catch and fired to second to retire Barger, clinching the win and giving the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The best-of-seven now boils down to one game. Scherzer will start 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 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to chase another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.