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This year's World Series is headed to a decisive seventh game after the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their title defense hopes intact on Friday with a three to one win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic final twin killing, stunning a home crowd that had arrived prepared to cheer the team's first title in over three decades.

Game 6 Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left to score Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Mookie Betts came through 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’ hopes of becoming the initial back-to-back championship victors since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning six of the first seven batters he confronted. He struck out eight through three innings, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outdueled Gausman for the second occasion in a week, allowing a single run on five base hits over six frames with six Ks. He improved to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The only run against him came on Springer’s two-out base hit in the third inning, driving in Addison Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his return to the lineup after sitting out two games with an oblique injury.

Relief Effort

After that, the Los Angeles relievers took over. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh, and another rookie Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Alejandro Kirk to open the inning. Addison Barger then hit a double that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to hold at second and third.

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starter, entered in a relief role and got a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to retire Barger, clinching the victory and earning the pitcher his first-ever successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now comes down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to pitch in more than one World Series Game 7s after accomplishing that in 2019 with the Nationals. The 40-year-old inked a single-season contract to chase another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Dodgers, looking to be baseball’s first back-to-back title winners in almost 25 years, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a short outing.