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We will have a Game 7 in the World Series to decide baseball’s championship after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Toronto 3-1 tonight in Game 6.
Mookie Betts had the big hit with a two-run single in the third inning, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched another gem for the Dodgers, going six innings and allowing one run and five hits. The L.A. bullpen kept the Blue Jays off the board for the final three innings.
The Blue Jays had the tying runs on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the ninth but did not score, with the game ending on a fly-ball double play.
Game 7 will be played Saturday night in Toronto.
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Dodgers hold off Blue Jays’ ferocious final push to force climactic World Series Game 7
Dodgers 3B Max Muncy ❌
Naw. Absolutely not. Muncy went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He also booted a ball in the first inning, though he cleaned it up by turning a double play. It was not a good game. But it was a “W” in a must-win game. See if he cares.
Blue Jays 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ✅
Guerrero did not deliver that unforgettable October moment I’d been imagining — not yet, anyway — but he did have a strong showing in Game 6. Guerrero doubled off Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a pitch where he lost his legs yet still muscled the ball on one hop over the wall. He later walked, benefitting from a missed strike from the home-plate umpire, to fuel an eighth-inning rally that would fizzle, though not fault of his own.
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It wasn’t a complete game, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding again. George Springer’s RBI single in the third inning was the only damage he allowed, and when the Blue Jays threatened again in the sixth inning, Yamamoto used his final pitch of the night to strand two runners and keep the lead intact. His final World Series pitching line: 2 wins, 15 innings, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts, and a 1.20 ERA.
2. Attack the high fastball ✅
The Dodgers’ first hit, a third-inning double by Tommy Edman, came on a high fastball. So did the two-run single by Mookie Betts. The Dodgers didn’t swat every high fastball — Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman used it repeatedly to get through a 1-2-3 fourth inning — but the Dodgers did attack a couple of them to great effect, with hits off high fastballs ultimately accounting for each of their three runs.
3. Straight to Sasaki ❌
The idea here was to use Roki Sasaki as much as possible, and the Dodgers kind of tried that. Justin Wrobleski handled the seventh inning, but they had Sasaki clearly set up to pitch the final two innings. His eighth inning, though, was stressful, and manager Dave Roberts wound up calling on Tyler Glasnow to get out of the ninth. Sasaki wasn’t at his best, but the Dodgers made it work in the end to force a Game 7.
Alex Rodriguez on the FS1 postgame show: "I don't care how good those plays where. They should have never happened. When you're at second base, there's no way — zero percent — you can get doubled up there. Especially with Springer coming up and the World Series on the line."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn‘t know who he is going to start in Game 7. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is unavailable, but Tyler Glasnow and all of the other pitchers are available.
Under normal circumstances, this would seem a simple task. But Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been otherworldly this October, and getting him out of the game, after back-to-back complete games, was no guarantee. Yamamoto still was highly effective in Game 6, but he was pulled after six innings and 96 pitches. The Jays only managed six baserunners and one run against Yamamoto, though, and once manager Dave Roberts turned things over to the bullpen the Jays threatened … and threatened … but did not score.
2. Chase chase ✅
It’s hard to properly state how fully Kevin Gausman checked this box. Other than the three at-bats in the third inning that decided the game, Gausman was in complete command. He led with his best pitch, throwing the splitter 53 percent of the time in Game 6 (compared to 38 percent in the regular season) and getting 15 of his 20 whiffs on that pitch. In the early innings, the Dodgers hitters knew exactly what pitch was coming, and still couldn’t hit it.
3. Find a clean exit point ✅
Rather than push Gausman into the seventh inning, at 93 pitches, manager John Schneider gave reliever Louis Varland a clean frame. Everything went just about according to plan from there: Four outs from Varland, one from lefty Mason Fluharty, one from Seranthony Domínguez and three from Chris Bassitt. But there are some games when you can hit all three of your keys to victory and still come away with the loss — in part because this writer neglected to write “don’t stay off second base” as a Game 6 key.
This Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series will be the 41st winner-take-all in postseason history. The road team is 22-18 in Game 7s of the World Series.
The last Game 7 of a World Series was 2019, where the Nationals beat the Astros 6-2 on the road in Houston.
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Addison Barger got doubled off second base on a lineout to left as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the Dodgers to force a Game 7. Here are your views on the chaotic end to Game 6:
TORONTO — Miguel Rojas sprawled across the dirt, the baseball firmly enclosed within his glove, a Game 7 somehow on the horizon. All around him, the Los Angeles Dodgers pumped their fists and emptied their lungs. Inside the Toronto Blue Jays dugout, disbelief took hold. Somehow, some way, this season was not yet over, not after a heart-stopping ending to a 3-1 Dodgers victory.
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow burst into a smile on the mound and accepted hugs from his teammates. He had been called into emergency relief as the Blue Jays battered closer Roki Sasaki and appeared on the verge of a walk-off championship victory. A ground-rule double by Toronto outfielder Addison Barger left two runners in scoring position with zero outs in the ninth.
It would be hard to script a less desirable spot for Glasnow, who was slated to pitch in Game 7. It would be hard for Blue Jays fans to stomach the ending. After a one-pitch pop-up by third baseman Ernie Clement, Toronto infielder Andrés Giménez scalded a liner into left field. Dodgers outfielder Kiké Hernández charged forward to catch the baseball and made a strong peg to Rojas. The throw beat Barger back to second base for a stunning double play that sent Rojas stumbling and this series to the limit.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider confirmed that Max Scherzer will be starting Game 7 of the World Series. Scherzer pitched in Game 7 six years ago for the Washington Nationals, the last winner-take-all in a World Series.
Schneider is relishing the opportunity to manage in a Game 7.
💬 “It’s Game 7 of the World Series at your home stadium. What the hell else could you want?”
That Kiké Hernandez play was so clutch that it had Will Smith playing the air guitar …
The Blue Jays have never played a Game 7 in the World Series (they won their previous two appearances in six games). The Dodgers are 2-5 in World Series Game 7s, winning in 1955 and 1965 and losing in 1947, 1952, 1956 and 2017.
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A random, potentially important part of that ninth inning for tomorrow: Tyler Glasnow only threw three pitches.
Alejandro Kirk will get an X-ray on his hand that was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning, according to manager John Schneider. But Schneider said it is precautionary.
💬 “He is going to be fine!”
I am still in disbelief about that baserunning.
The Dodgers have forced a Game 7 tomorrow night in Toronto.
Let's hear from their manager, Dave Roberts.
Here we go! Game 7 of the World Series. The 41st winner-take-all World Series game will take place Saturday night at Rogers Centre.
The last Game 7 of the World Series was 2019. When Max Scherzer’s Washington Nationals beat George Springer and the Houston Astros.
Now Scherzer is expected to get the Game 7 start. Springer and Scherzer are teammates on the Blue Jays. What a night tomorrow is going to be!
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After the Dodgers won the marathon Game 3, you could forgive anyone who assumed the Blue Jays were done. Battling back from that exhausting, heartbreaking defeat to take control of the series against the sport’s biggest behemoth was terrific work fueled by terrific baseball.
But maybe we should have known better than to assume the Dodgers were going to lay down and let the Blue Jays win the World Series in Toronto.
Friday night it was the Dodgers pitching brilliantly, finally getting just enough timely hitting and ultimately thanking the baseball gods for one crucial defensive play to seal the deal. Game 6 was another masterclass filled with tension and trapdoors and climactic moments. Pitching, particularly splitters, ruled the day.
So we’re headed to Game 7. The possibility of a Shohei Ohtani–Max Scherzer showdown could create a perfect ending to what has been a stellar World Series.
Game 7 will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
One thing I’m most focused on for Game 7 is who can ride the adrenaline. Everyone is gassed at this point, but it’s time to dig deep.
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