The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided elimination for at least one more night with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays to force a Game 7 on Saturday night.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in another gem, giving the Dodgers six innings of one-run ball. He struck out six, walked one and allowed five hits.
The only run Yamamoto allowed came in the third inning, when Addison Barger hit a leadoff double and scored on a single from George Springer. Outside of that, the Blue Jays only had one other real opportunity to score, which came in the sixth inning, when they had a two-out double and walk before Yamamoto struck out Daulton Varsho to end his night.
Overall in the World Series, Yamamoto threw 15 innings with just two runs allowed.
The Dodgers’ offense remained quiet, but did just enough to get them a win with the pitching performance they received. All three of their runs came in the third inning, which was started by a one-out double from Tommy Edman and intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani.
Edman scored on a double from Will Smith, and then Freddie Freeman took a walk. After being dropped in the batting order for the second-consecutive day, Mookie Betts came up with the bases loaded, and despite all his struggles, he came through with a single to drive in two runs, putting the Dodgers up 3-0.
After going up 3-0, 14 straight Dodgers were retired until Ohtani doubled with one out in the eighth and Smith was intentionally walked.
Once Yamamoto was out of the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Justin Wrobelski in the seventh inning. It marked a change from Roberts going with his previously-trusted, but the decision worked out.
Wrobleski allowed a two-out double, but stranded him and struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Roki Sasaki entered for the eighth inning, with the likely plan of going two innings for a six-out save. Sasaki allowed a leadoff single and one-out walk, but retired the next two hitters to get out of the jam and keep the lead.
Sasaki was back out for the ninth and hit the first batter he faced before allowing a double. The Dodgers then turned to Tyler Glasnow with the tying runs in scoring position.
Glasnow got the first batter he faced to pop up, and then the next batter to line into a double play to end the game.
Dodgers force World Series Game 7
With the win, the Dodgers are set to face the Blue Jays in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday night. The game is once again scheduled for 5 p.m. PT at the Rogers Centre.
Tyler Glasnow was scheduled to face Max Scherzer, but things changed with all options on the table for both games. Ohtani starting with Glasnow coming out of the bullpen was always the likely scenario for the Dodgers, and Blake Snell could factor into their plans as well.
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