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This year's championship series is going to a final seventh game 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 late-game comeback with a thrilling final twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third frame. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Will Smith hit a two-bagger 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 3–0 advantage.

Betts’ hit snapped a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of being the first repeat World Series victors since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced. He fanned eight through three innings, tying a World Series record, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six innings, allowing three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The righty outdueled Gausman for the second occasion in a seven days, giving up one run on five base hits over six frames with six Ks. He boosted his record to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on George Springer two-out single in the third, driving in Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. Rookie Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' Game 3 starting pitcher, entered in relief and induced a pop fly before Giménez lined to left. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to retire the runner, clinching the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now comes down to one game. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, becoming the only living pitcher to start more than one World Series Game 7s after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to pursue one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are expected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.