Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the Dodgers’ ace in the regular season. He has been their ace in the postseason too. (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
There will be a Game 7 of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, thanks to an ending that could be described as wild by one side and anti-climactic by the other.
Down 3-1 going into the ninth inning of Game 6, the Blue Jays got two runners in scoring position with no outs courtesy of a double from Addision Barger, which itself was a curious moment as Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean successfully had play stopped because the ball got pinned under the outfield wall.
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The Dodgers pulled rookie closer Roki Sasaki and brought in Tyler Glasnow, a candidate to start the winner-take-all game on Saturday. He got one out via an Ernie Clement pop-up, and then a second out on a fly ball from Andrés Giménez.
And then he got a third out when left-fielder Kiké Hernández too far from second base. Ballgame. The Rogers Centre crowd, ready to celebrate a 1993 Joe Carter redux, was left stunned by a double play to end the game.
Hernández has become a folk hero for Dodgers fans over the past decade with his clutch hitting, defensive versatility and clubhouse presence, but he never had a bigger play than that one.
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Staring down elimination, the Dodgers put on their most complete performance to force a winner-take-all game on Saturday. After throwing only three pitches in Game 6, Glasnow will probably be called on to throw multiple innings in Game 7. He might come in after Shohei Ohtani opens the game. The Blue Jays will likely have two former Cy Young Award winners, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber, ready to throw whichever innings are needed.
Buckle up.
To get there, the Dodgers rode another gem from ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Hedidn’t throw a complete game like his previous two starts, but it was six innings of one-run ball, with six strikeouts against a Blue Jays lineup that has tagged nearly every Dodgers pitcher except for him this postseason.
The Blue Jays sent out Kevin Gausman, who was once again dominant — with an exception. The right-hander retired his first seven batters and his final 10 batters, but in between was a three-run rally in the third inning.
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Will Smith got the Dodgers’ first run with an RBI double, but the bigger hit belonged to Mookie Betts. The Dodgers’ star shortstop has struggled so much this postseason that he was moved down in the order twice in two games (second to third for Game 5, third to clean-up for Game 6).
Facing Gausman with the bases loaded and two outs, Betts knocked a low line drive into left field to score two runs.
That was the first time the Dodgers scored more than two runs in a single inning this series.
Yamamoto made sure it counted with his start, and Justin Wrobleski, Sasaki and Glasnow took it home with a combined three innings. With timely hits and a complete performance by the pitching staff (with a couple big breaks), it was the kind of win the Dodgers haven’t had for the entire Fall Classic.
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And now a Game 7. Both teams have multiple starting pitchers in reserve and will do everything they can to retain the advantage. The 2025 MLB season will come down to Saturday, and the result will either be the Blue Jays first title in 32 years or the Dodgers’ first title in 12 months.
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Glasnow gets Clement to pop up, and then Gimenez flies out and into a double play.
Hernandez catches the flyball in left and immediately throws to Miguel Rojas at second, and the ball beats a sliding Addison Barger for out No. 3.
That’s a stunning end to the Jays’ rally and this Game 6. And the first save of Glasnow’s career.
We will have Game 7 tomorrow.
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Jake Mintz
Wild stuff here in the ninth. Addison Barger drove one to the base of the wall off Roki Sasaki, and the ball got stuck between the fence and the ground. With the ball lodged, substitute center fielder Justin Dean threw his arms in the air.
Barger ran around the bases and touched home, sending Rogers Centre into pandemonium, but after review, the play was ruled a ground-rule double. That’s the right call. Whether the ball was retrievable — it probably was — isn’t really the point. The umpire threw his hands in the air to signify a ground-rule double, which caused Dean to not go get the ball.
Now Glasnow is in to pitch with runners on second and third and nobody down. Tense times here north of the border in the ninth inning.
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Barger blasts a double deep to center field, and it gets wedged between the wall and the warning track. Both runners flew around to home, but they’ll be sent back to second and third on a ground-rule double.
Still nobody out, and now Clement is coming to the plate as the winning run.
That does it for Sasaki. Tyler Glasnow is coming in for the Dodgers.
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Myles Straw will pinch run for Kirk, with Barger coming to the plate.
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Sasaki is back on the mound for the bottom of the ninth.
And he begins by hitting Kirk with a pitch. Jays have a baserunner.
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Edman grounds out. That’s a 1-2-3 inning for Bassitt, and the Jays are up to bat for the last time.
They need two runs to tie it. The Dodgers are three outs away from forcing Game 7.
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Kiké Hernandez also goes down swinging. That’s two in the top of the ninth.
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Chris Bassitt is pitching for Toronto now. He gets Muncy swinging for the first out of the ninth.
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Jack Baer
Daulton Varsho grounds out to end the inning and keep the Dodgers up two. However, with Sasaki at 23 pitches, the Dodgers might need to turn to someone else for the ninth.
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Jack Baer
Bichette fouls out. Varsho next up with two outs.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. takes ball four to put the lead run on base with one out. It sure looked like ball three, a splitter, could have been strike three.
Sasaki gets a visit on the mound as Bo Bichette comes to the plate. Emmet Sheehan has been warming behind him.
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Jack Baer
Nathan Lukes got to three balls, but ends up flying out. Here comes Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with one out in maybe the biggest spot of the series for him.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
72.2 mph, right into the dirt.
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Jack Baer
George Springer leads the Blue Jays off with a single against Roki Sasaki. It was a weak grounder down the first-base line, but Freddie Freeman was just a bit too far off the line (and slow to react).
Springer has had quite a game despite looking pained in every at-bat.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
And now the Dodgers are bringing in Roki Sasaki against the top of the Blue Jays order for a potential six-out save. He hasn’t pitched since throwing 1 2/3 innings and 29 pitches in the Game 3 18-inning marathon.
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Jack Baer
Teoscar Hernández, with the bases loaded, just struck out on four pitches. None of them was in the zone.
Maybe move him down in the lineup next.
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