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This year's championship series is going to a decisive Game 7 following the Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive their repeat dreams intact on Friday with a three to one victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.

The reigning title holders halted Toronto’s late-game comeback with a thrilling game-ending double play, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had arrived prepared to cheer the city’s first title in 32 years.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles produced all of their scoring in the third inning. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to bring home Edman. Freddie Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Mookie Betts came through with a two-run single to left, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

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

Pitching Battle

Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, striking out six of the first seven Dodgers he faced. He struck out eight through three innings, matching a Fall Classic mark, but the third-frame rally proved costly. The Blue Jays' star finished with 8 Ks over six innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits and two walks.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, was solid again under pressure. The righty outdueled his counterpart for the second time in a seven days, giving up one run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to 4–1 this postseason with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him came on George Springer two-out single in the third inning, scoring Barger, who had doubled earlier in the inning. That single offered a momentary lift in his return to the lineup after missing a pair of contests with an side strain.

Bullpen Effort

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski escaped a jam in the seventh inning, and fellow rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before hitting Kirk to start the frame. Barger then hit a two-base hit that became wedged under the left-center-field fence, obliging base runners to hold at second and third base.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers' third game starter, entered in a relief role and induced a pop fly before Giménez hit a line drive to left. Enrique Hernández caught the ball and threw to second base to double off the runner, clinching the victory and earning Glasnow his first career save.

Next Up: Seventh Game

The series now boils down to a single contest. Scherzer will start for Toronto, making him the sole active hurler to start more than one seventh games of the World Series after doing so in the 2019 season with Washington. The 40-year-old 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 become the sport's initial repeat champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to lean on their two-way star for a brief appearance.