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This year's championship series is going to a final seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes intact Friday night with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to cheer the team's championship in over three decades.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left field to bring home Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Betts came through with a two-RBI hit to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

Betts’ hit broke a playoff dry spell and revived the defending champions’ aspirations of becoming the first repeat championship winners since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning half a dozen of the first seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three frames, matching a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star ended with eight strikeouts over six innings, yielding three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on George Springer two-out base hit in the third, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. That single provided a brief spark in his return to the starting nine after sitting out two games with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

After that, the Los Angeles relievers took over. Rookie Justin Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki worked into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the frame. Addison Barger then hit a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starting pitcher, came on in a relief role and got a pop fly before Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to retire the runner, sealing the win and giving the pitcher his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, becoming the only living pitcher to pitch in more than one seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The veteran signed a single-season contract to pursue another championship and has been a outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to be baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.