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This year's World Series is headed to a final Game 7 following the Dodgers kept alive their title defense hopes alive Friday night with a 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a dramatic game-ending twin killing, stunning a Rogers Centre audience that had arrived prepared to celebrate the team's first title in 32 years.

Game 6 Recap

The Dodgers generated all of their scoring in the third frame. With two away, Ohtani was purposely passed before Smith doubled to left to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to load the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-RBI hit to left, handing the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Betts’ hit snapped a postseason slump and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of being the first repeat World Series winners since the New York Yankees captured three straight from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Duel

Kevin Gausman had been dominant to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he confronted. He struck out 8 through three innings, matching a Fall Classic record, but the third-inning barrage proved decisive. The Blue Jays' star finished with eight strikeouts over six frames, allowing three earned runs on three safeties and two free passes.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in contrast, was solid again under stress. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second occasion in a week, allowing a single run on five base hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on Springer’s two-out base hit in the third, driving in Barger, who had hit a double previously in the frame. That single provided a momentary lift in his comeback to the lineup after sitting out a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Effort

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

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starter, came on in a relief role and got a popout before Giménez lined to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and fired to second to double off the runner, sealing the win and earning the pitcher his first career successful save.

Next Up: Game 7

The series now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will take the mound for the Blue Jays, becoming the only living pitcher to pitch in multiple seventh games of the World Series after accomplishing that 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 outspoken presence throughout this playoff run.

The Los Angeles squad, looking to be baseball’s first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.