Dodgers force World Series to decisive Game 7 by holding off Blue Jays 3-1

TORONTO -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto beat Toronto for the second time in a week, slumping Mookie Betts hit a two-run single in a three-run third inning and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers held off the Blue Jays 3-1 on Friday night to force the World Series to a decisive Game 7.

Yamamoto was not quite as sharp as in his Game 2 four-hitter, the first World Series complete game in a decade. He lasted six innings and allowed an RBI single in the third by George Springer, who returned after missing two games with an injury to his right side.

Rookie relievers Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki combined for six outs before starter Tyler Glasnow came out of the bullpen to escape a ninth-inning jam and rescue the Dodgers.

Glasnow needed only three pitches to do it. With runners on second and third and nobody out, he got Ernie Clement to pop up his first delivery on the infield for an easy out. Andrés Giménez then hit a line drive to left field that Kiké Hernández turned into a game-ending double play.

Hernández caught the ball on the run in shallow left-center and fired to second base, where Miguel Rojas made a tough pick of a one-hop throw to double off Addison Barger.

“I was playing a little more shallow than the card wanted me to. But given the situation, really fast guy at second base, I was like, you know what? I’m going to play really, really shallow. If he hits it over my head, kudos to him. I feel like his pop is more to the pull side," Hernández said.

“Somehow I was able to hear that the bat broke even with that crowd. The crazy thing is I had no idea where the ball was because it was in the lights the whole time. But given the situation in the game, the World Series on the line and how good I was hitting tonight, I was like, it's going to hit me in the face — but I’m not stopping. I’m not pulling up. And at the very end, the ball came out of the lights and went into my glove.”

It was the first 7-4 game-ending double play in postseason history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"I gave him a really hard throw to catch. I think it was a better pick than it was a play on my end,” Hernández said.

Sasaki plunked Alejandro Kirk with an 0-2 pitch to begin the inning, and Barger hit a ground-rule double to left-center that got wedged at the bottom of the wall.

That's when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts summoned Glasnow.

“I just felt right there, Roki wasn’t as sharp and I felt right there, Glas is a guy who has swing-and-miss stuff and I just wanted to bet on him," Roberts said. "He’s been chomping at the bit to make an impact.”

Max Scherzer will start Game 7 on Saturday night for the Blue Jays. The three-time Cy Young Award winner also started the last World Series Game 7, getting a no-decision when Washington won the 2019 title over Houston.

“These guys are really good at kind of just turning the page,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “That will take a while to kind of unpack. That’s a wild ending. I love the way we played.”

Glasnow had been lined up to potentially start for the Dodgers, seeking to become the first team to win consecutive titles since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani also could be used as an opener.

“I think right now, there’s no wrong answer,” Roberts said. “He’s certainly going to be a part of the pitching plan, and with Shohei, it could be two innings, but it could be four innings. So I’m not sure where we’re going to slot him. We’re going to have to talk to him first on where he feels most comfortable.”

Los Angeles kept alive its bid for a third title in six seasons and its hopes to be recognized as a dynasty.

“Man, we live for Game 7, so here we go,” Roberts said.

Yamamoto, a 27-year-old right-hander in his second season with the Dodgers after winning three MVP awards in Japan, was coming off the first consecutive postseason complete games since 2001.

He allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts and a walk, stranding two runners in the sixth when he struck out Daulton Varsho with a splitter on his 96th and final pitch. Yamamoto is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason starts and has a 1.20 ERA in his two Series outings.

Kevin Gausman lost to Yamamoto for the second time despite matching a Series record by striking out eight in the first three innings behind a dominant splitter.

Tommy Edman doubled with one out in the third for the Dodgers’ first hit. Ohtani was intentionally walked for the fifth time in the Series and Will Smith hit an RBI double off the left-field wall on a high splitter.

Freddie Freeman walked, bringing up Betts. The three-time World Series champion entered just 3 for 23 in the Series and had been dropped from second to third in the lineup for Game 5. He was moved down another slot to cleanup Friday, his lowest in the batting order since 2017.

Behind 1-2 in the count, Betts fouled off two pitches and laced Gausman’s third straight fastball between shortstop and third for a 3-0 lead. That ended an 0-for-13 stretch with the bases loaded for the Dodgers that dated to the Division Series.

“Honestly, man, I know it hasn’t been great for me,” Betts said. “But this year really hasn’t been great. I just want to be there to help the boys. I came up in a big spot. ... I just was able to find a way to lock in.”

Seeking their first World Series title since 1993, the Blue Jays wore powder blue uniforms at home for the first time since September after getting wins with them in Games 4 and 5 in LA.

Toronto scored when Barger doubled to start the third and came around on Springer’s two-out single.

Gausman gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, getting 15 swings and misses with his splitter.

Sasaki, a starter turned reliever as the Dodgers tried to shore up their bullpen, escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth by retiring Bo Bichette on a foulout and Varsho on a groundout.

Scherzer and Glasnow started Game 3, won by the Dodgers 6-5 in 18 innings. A 41-year-old right-hander, Scherzer will become the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series winner-take-all Game 7s after Bob Gibson (1964, ’67, ’68), Lew Burdette and Don Larsen (both 1957 and ’58). Scherzer allowed two runs over five innings for Washington against Houston in 2019, and the Nationals rallied for a 6-2 win.

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