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The World Series is headed to a final seventh game following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their title defense dreams alive Friday night with a 3–1 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The defending champions ended Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling final twin killing, stunning a home audience that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s first title in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith doubled to left to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman drew a walk to fill the bases, and Betts came through with a two-run single to left, handing the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

That key hit broke a playoff dry spell and revived the title holders' aspirations of becoming the first repeat championship victors since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Mound Battle

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that stage, striking out half a dozen of the initial seven batters he confronted. He struck out 8 through three innings, tying a Fall Classic record, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Toronto ace ended with eight strikeouts over six frames, yielding three earned runs on three hits and two free passes.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under stress. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second occasion in a week, allowing a single run on five hits over six innings with six Ks. He improved 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, scoring Addison Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single provided a momentary lift in his comeback to the starting nine after sitting out a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. First-year pitcher Justin Wrobleski got out of a jam in the seventh inning, and another rookie Rōki Sasaki pitched into the ninth inning before plunking Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a double that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, forcing base runners to hold at second and third base.

Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, came on in a relief role and got a popout before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Hernández made the catch and fired to second to retire the runner, sealing the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever successful save.

Looking Ahead: Game 7

The best-of-seven now comes down to a single contest. Max Scherzer will take the mound for Toronto, becoming the sole active hurler to start more than one World Series Game 7s after doing so in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The veteran signed a one-year deal to pursue another championship and has been a vocal leader throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, looking to be the sport's first back-to-back title winners in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on Shohei Ohtani for a brief appearance.