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The championship series is going to a decisive Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense hopes 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 dramatic final double play, stunning a home crowd that had arrived prepared to celebrate the city’s first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to score Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, handing the Dodgers a three-run advantage.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and revived the defending champions’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship victors since the Yankees captured three consecutive from 1998 to 2000.

Pitching Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the initial seven batters he faced. He fanned 8 through three innings, tying a World Series mark, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under stress. The righty outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a seven days, giving up a single run on five base hits over six innings with six strikeouts. 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 inning, driving in Barger, who had hit a double earlier in the inning. Springer’s hit offered a momentary lift in his return to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

From there, the Los Angeles relievers took over. Rookie Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and fellow rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Kirk to open the inning. Addison Barger followed with a double that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to stay at second and third base.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in relief and got a popout before Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off Barger, sealing the victory and giving the pitcher his first-ever successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The best-of-seven now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for the Blue Jays, becoming the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one World Series Game 7s after doing so in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old signed a one-year deal to pursue one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this postseason.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are expected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.