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This year's World Series is headed to a final seventh game following the Dodgers kept their repeat dreams alive on Friday with a 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling game-ending twin killing, silencing a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the team's championship in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third frame. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith hit a two-bagger to left to bring home Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

Betts’ hit broke a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of becoming the initial back-to-back championship winners since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced. He struck out 8 through three frames, matching a World Series mark, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with 8 Ks over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two walks.

Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under pressure. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched his counterpart for the second occasion 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 postseason 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 doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a brief spark in his return to the lineup after missing two games with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Los Angeles relievers carried the load. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth before plunking Alejandro Kirk to open the frame. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to stay at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, came on in relief and induced a pop fly before Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to double off Barger, clinching the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now boils down to one game. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, making him the only living pitcher to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in 2019 with Washington. The 40-year-old signed a one-year deal to pursue another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, looking to become baseball’s initial repeat champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a short outing.