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

The reigning title holders ended Toronto’s ninth-inning rally with a dramatic game-ending double play, stunning a Rogers Centre crowd that had come ready to cheer the team's first title in over three decades.

Sixth Game Recap

Los Angeles generated all of their offense in the third inning. With two away, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked before Will Smith hit a two-bagger to left field to score Tommy Edman. Freeman earned a base on balls to fill the bases, and Betts delivered with a two-run single to the opposite field, giving the Dodgers a 3–0 lead.

Betts’ hit broke a playoff dry spell and rekindled the defending champions’ aspirations of being the initial back-to-back championship victors since the New York Yankees won three consecutive from 1998 through 2000.

Pitching Battle

Kevin Gausman had been nearly unhittable to that point, fanning half a dozen of the initial seven Dodgers he faced. He fanned 8 through three innings, matching a World Series record, but the third-frame rally proved decisive. The Toronto ace finished with 8 Ks over six innings, allowing three runs on three safeties and two walks.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, meanwhile, was steady again under stress. The 27-year-old right-hander outpitched his counterpart for the second time in a week, giving up a single run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts. He boosted his record to four wins and one loss this playoffs with a 1.56 ERA.

The lone score against him resulted from George Springer two-out single in the third inning, scoring Barger, who had doubled previously in the frame. That single provided a momentary lift in his return to the lineup after sitting out a pair of contests with an oblique injury.

Bullpen Heroics

After that, the Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load. First-year pitcher Wrobleski got out of a tight spot in the seventh, and fellow rookie Sasaki worked into the ninth inning before plunking Kirk to start the inning. Barger followed with a two-base hit that got stuck under the outfield wall, obliging base runners to hold at second and third.

Glasnow, Los Angeles’ third game starting pitcher, entered in relief and induced a pop fly before Andrés Giménez lined to left field. Hernández made the catch and threw to second base to double off Barger, clinching the victory and giving Glasnow his first-ever save.

Looking Ahead: Seventh Game

The best-of-seven now comes down to one game. Max Scherzer will start for Toronto, becoming the only living pitcher to start more than one World Series Game 7s after accomplishing that in the 2019 season with the Nationals. The veteran inked a one-year deal to chase one more title and has been a outspoken presence throughout this postseason.

The Los Angeles squad, aiming to be the sport's first back-to-back champions in nearly a quarter-century, are projected to rely on their two-way star for a brief appearance.