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

The defending champions ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a thrilling game-ending double play, silencing a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Summary

Los Angeles produced all of their offense in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left field to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Betts came through with a two-run single to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ hopes of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning half a dozen of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned eight through three frames, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second occasion in a seven days, allowing a single run on five hits over six frames with six Ks. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him resulted from Springer’s two-out single in the third inning, driving in Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after missing two games with an oblique injury.

Relief Heroics

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Alejandro Kirk to start the frame. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging runners to hold at second and third.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in relief and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and threw to second base to double off the runner, clinching the win and giving Glasnow his first career save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The series now comes down to one game. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, making him the only living pitcher to start multiple 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 vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's initial repeat champions in almost 25 years, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a short outing.