Los Angeles Dodgers Hold On in Canada to Set Up Decisive Game 7 in World Series
The World Series is going to a decisive Game 7 following the Dodgers kept their title defense hopes alive Friday night with a three to one victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.
The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling final twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had come ready to celebrate the team's championship in over three decades.
Game 6 Summary
The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Shohei Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to bring home Edman. Freddie 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 three-run lead.
That key hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship winners since the New York Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.
Mound Duel
Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning six of the first seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three frames, tying a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two walks.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second time in a seven days, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He boosted his record to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.
The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, scoring Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after missing a pair of contests with an oblique injury.
Relief Heroics
From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to stay at second and third.
Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in relief and induced a pop fly before Giménez lined to left field. Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to double off the runner, sealing the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever successful save.
Next Up: Game 7
The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in 2019 with Washington. The veteran signed a one-year deal to chase one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.
The Los Angeles squad, aiming to be the sport's initial repeat title winners in almost 25 years, are expected to rely on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.