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This year's championship series is headed to a decisive Game 7 after the Dodgers kept their repeat hopes intact on Friday with a three to one win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final twin killing, silencing a home audience that had come ready to celebrate the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third frame. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith doubled to left field to score Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of being the initial back-to-back World Series winners since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Duel

Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three innings, tying a World Series record, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with 8 Ks over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, giving up one run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from Springer’s two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Addison Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. Springer’s hit offered a brief spark in his return to the lineup after missing two games with an oblique injury.

Relief Effort

After that, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before plunking Kirk to start the inning. Barger followed with a double that became wedged under the outfield wall, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starting pitcher, came on in relief and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left field. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and threw to second base to double off the runner, clinching the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The series now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple 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 chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are expected to rely on their two-way star for a short outing.