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This year's World Series is headed to a final Game 7 after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense dreams intact on Friday with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

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

Sixth Game Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two outs, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to bring home Tommy Edman. Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Mookie Betts delivered with a two-run single to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 advantage.

That key hit broke a playoff dry spell and revived the defending champions’ aspirations of being the initial back-to-back World Series winners since the Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Mound Duel

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He fanned eight through three frames, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star ended with 8 Ks over six frames, allowing three runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was steady again under pressure. The righty outpitched Gausman for the second occasion in a week, giving up one run on five base hits over six frames with six strikeouts. He improved to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out single in the third, driving in Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single provided a brief spark in his return to the lineup after sitting out two games with an side strain.

Relief Heroics

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski escaped a tight spot in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth before hitting Alejandro Kirk to open the frame. Addison Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez hit a line drive to left. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to double off the runner, sealing the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now boils down to one game. Scherzer will start for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to start multiple seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a one-year deal to chase one more title and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, looking to become the sport's first back-to-back champions in almost 25 years, are expected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.