Dodgers survive wild ninth to defeat Blue Jays and force World Series Game 7

TORONTO — The Dodgers have forced a Game 7 in the World Series.

And Shohei Ohtani will be their starting pitcher.

In what will be just four days removed from his six-plus-inning, 93-pitch start in Game 4 of this World Series, Ohtani will serve as the team’s opener in Saturday’s winner-take-all contest, the team announced Saturday.

The Dodgers, it turns out, chose the perfect costume in which to parade on this scariest of Halloween nights.

They came dressed as the Dodgers.

The Yoshinobu-Yamamoto-firing Dodgers. The Mookie-Betts-blasting Dodgers. The energetic-and-inspired Dodgers.

The listless team of the previous two games was gone. The passionate team of the previous month was back.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — FINAL

Mookie Betts drove in two runs, Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered six solid innings and Kiké Hernández ended the game by executing an improbable 7-4 double play as the Dodgers fended off elimination with a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday night.

Will Smith sparked a three-run surge by the Dodgers in the third inning with an RBI double before Betts singled to left to drive in a pair of runs. Yamamoto gave up five hits, one run, struck out six and walked one over 96 pitches.

With the series tied 3-3, the Dodgers and Blue Jays will play for the 2025 World Series title in Game 7 on Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT.

Ninth-inning recap

Top of the ninth: Facing Blue Jays reliever Chris Bassitt, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández each struck out. Tommy Edman grounded out to short in the 1-2-3 frame.

Bottom of the ninth: Roki Sasaki hit Alejandro Kirk in the hand with an 0-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the ninth. With Tyler Glasnow warming up in the bullpen, Myles Straw entered as a pinch-runner for Kirk.

Addison Barger then hit a dead-ball, ground-rule double when the ball lodged itself under the wall in left-center field, putting runners on second and third base with no outs.

After the hit, Dave Roberts put Tyler Glasnow on the mound. He quickly got Ernie Clement to pop out to first, then Andrés Giménez lined into a double play to left field with Kiké Hernández throwing out Barger at second before he could tag up, ending the game in wild fashion.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — Eighth inning

Top of the eighth: Miguel Rojas flied out to right field. The Blue Jays then went back to their bullpen, replacing Louis Varland with Mason Fluharty.

Shohei Ohtani then doubled to the wall in left-center field. Fluharty intentionally walked Will Smith before Freddie Freeman flied out to right field.

Toronto put right-hander Seranthony Domínguez to face Mookie Betts, and the matchup move didn’t work with Dominguez walking Betts to load the bases.

Domínguez got out of the jam by striking out Teoscar Hernández.

Bottom of the eighth: George Springer hit a liner past a diving Freddie Freeman into right field off Dodgers reliever Roki Sasaki for a leadoff single.

With Emmet Sheehan warming up in the bullpen, Nathan Lukes flied out to center field.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then drew a walk to put two on with one out. Bo Bichette then popped out in foul territory behind third base.

Daulton Varsho grounded out to second to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — Through seventh inning

Top of the seventh: Facing reliever Louis Varland, Max Muncy lined out to right field. Kiké Hernández took a called third strike and Tommy Edman flied out to center field.

Bottom of the seventh: Justin Wrobleski took over on the mound for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up five hits, one run, struck out six and walked one over 96 pitches and six innings.

Wrobleski struck out Alejandro Kirk before Addison Barger grounded out to second. Ernie Clement then doubled on a sharp liner to the warning track in left field.

With Roki Sasaki warming up in the bullpen, Wrobleski struck out Andrés Giménez to strand Clement at second base.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — Through sixth inning

Top of the sixth: Freddie Freeman popped out to short before Mookie Betts grounded out to second. Teoscar Hernández grounded out to short to cap the 1-2-3 frame.

Bottom of the sixth: George Springer grounded out to short before Nathan Lukes flied out to center field.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then doubled on a hook that bounced to the wall in left field for the Blue Jays’ fifth hit off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. With Justin Wrobleski warming up in the bullpen, Yamamoto walked Bo Bichette.

Yamamoto defused the situation by striking out Daulton Varsho on four pitches.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jay 1 — Through fifth inning

Top of the fifth: Miguel Rojas flied out to right field before Shohei Ohtani grounded out to first base. Will Smith then lined out sharply to Nathan Lukes in left field.

Bottom of the fifth: Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out Alejandro Kirk on nine pitches and then got Addison Barger on a called third strike. Ernie Clement followed with a single to short that Mookie Betts couldn’t cleanly field. Andrés Giménez flied out to center to end the inning.

Yamamoto has given up four hits and one run, with five strikeouts. He has thrown 75 pitches, which could make it difficult for him to try to pitch what would be a third consecutive complete game.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — Through fourth inning

Top of the fourth: Max Muncy grounded out to second, Kiké Hernández popped out to second and Tommy Edman popped out to third.

Bottom of the fourth: Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before Bo Bichette singled on a line drive to left field. Daulton Varsho grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Yamamoto has given up three hits and one run, with three strikeouts and no walks over 58 pitches.

⚾ Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 — Through third inning

Top of the third: Kevin Gausman struck out Kiké Hernández. Tommy Edman then got the Dodgers’ first hit on a first-pitch double down the right-field line.

Miguel Rojas then struck out on a 95 mph fastball before Gausman intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani.

Will Smith then drove the ball to the wall in the left-field corner for an RBI double to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The hit scored Edman and moved Ohtani to third.

Freddie Freeman then drew a five-pitch walk from Gausman to load the bases.

Mookie Betts, batting from the cleanup spot, extended the Dodgers’ lead on a two-run single to left field to make it 3-0 Dodgers.

Gausman struck out Teoscar Hernández to strand Freeman and Betts.

Bottom of the third: Addison Barger led with a double down the left-field line that ricocheted off the wall in foul territory. Yoshinobu Yamamoto then struck out Ernie Clement on three pitches. Andrés Giménez grounded out to second.

George Springer then drove in Barger on a single to right- center field to make it 3-1 Dodgers.

Nathan Lukes flied out to the warning track in left field to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Blue Jays 0 — Through second inning

Top of the second: Mookie Betts, batting in the cleanup spot, grounded out to third base. Kevin Gausman struck out Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy to cap the frame. Gausman has struck out five of the first six batters he has faced.

Bottom of the second: Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out Bo Bichette. Daulton Varsho then popped out to Betts before Alejandro Kirk flied out to Tommy Edman in center field.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Blue Jays 0 — Through first inning

Top of the first: Facing Toronto starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman each struck out.

Bottom of the first: Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto got George Springer to ground out to short. Springer, playing for the first time since sustaining injury to his right side in Game 3, was wincing during his at-bat.

Nathan Lukes then singled on a hopper to third that got underneath Max Muncy’s glove as he ran forward. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then grounded to third for a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Shohei Ohtani wore the same mask of calm that he always wears.

He spoke with detachment, as he often does.

By the time Ohtani walked into the interview room at Dodger Stadium after his team’s 6-2 defeat in Game 4 of the World Series, however, he was already devising his redemption.

“Of course, I’d like to prepare to be available for every game in case I’m needed,” Ohtani said in Japanese.

Ohtani wants to pitch again in this World Series.

Was Edgardo Henriquez the best option to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on the corners?

Maybe, maybe not.

And that was the problem.

The problem was that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t have a choice that was clearly better than to place the game in the hands of a hard-throwing but unreliable 23-year-old rookie.

Facing elimination in Game 6 of the World Series, the Dodgers shook up their lineup again in a bid to save their season.

For the second straight game, Mookie Betts was moved down in the order, going to the cleanup spot after hitting third in Game 5. Freddie Freeman was bumped up to the three-hole, with Will Smith staying in Betts’ old spot batting second behind Shohei Ohtani.

Lower down, there was another change. Miguel Rojas is at second base for his first start since Game 2 of the National League Division Series. Tommy Edman kicked out to center field, a spot he had only played once previously this postseason (for the final five innings of Monday’s 18-inning marathon). Alex Call was dropped to the bench after starting Game 5.

“I just really wanted Miggy in there,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been a really glue guy for our club this year, and I just feel that having him in the lineup infuses some extra intensity, energy into the lineup. On the defensive side too.”

As for Betts, who entered Friday batting .130 in the World Series and .164 since the start of the National League Division Series, Roberts was encouraged by how he looked in his off-day batting practice session Thursday.

“I think that where his swing is at mechanically is as good as it’s been in a week,” Roberts said. “So I really feel good about that.”

On the pitching side, Roberts said Shohei Ohtani would not be an option for Game 6, but could potentially open or come out of the bullpen in Game 7. Tyler Glasnow was available for a potential relief outing in Game 6, even though Roberts indicated his preference was going to be to try and save him for a Game 7 if possible.

“You got to win today,” Roberts said. “That’s most important.”

TORONTO — As soon as Blake Treinen entered for the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw dropped his guard and began to look around.

For the previous three hours, the future Hall of Fame pitcher had been locked in on the game, mentally preparing for a potential relief appearance from out in the bullpen.

But when that didn’t come, the 37-year-old Kershaw then let himself relax, took in the scene of an October night at Chavez Ravine, and soaked up the final moments of what was his final game at Dodger Stadium.

If you’re not on social media, good for you. If you are, you know that any good start by Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is immediately followed by a flood of venom aimed at former major league outfielder Josh Reddick.

No sooner had Yamamoto thrown his World Series complete game last week than Reddick got 3 million views for one of his tweets from two years ago.

Many of those viewers were happy to tell him he was a moron.

You remember the stickers. You might even have one yourself.

They were the stickers that reproduced the Fox Sports score box, showing the New York Yankees leading the Dodgers, 5-0, with two outs in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series.

The Dodgers would clinch the series that night, because the Yankees imploded in that inning: Aaron Judge dropped a fly ball, Anthony Volpe committed a throwing error, Gerrit Cole did not cover first base, and the Dodgers tied the score before the Yankees finally secured that third out.

It wasn’t quite like that for the Dodgers on Wednesday, but it was uncomfortably close. The Dodgers’ mistakes were scattered over nine innings, not clustered in one.

Unfathomable. Unwatchable. Unbearable.

Undone.

The richest team in baseball is splitting apart at the seams, tearing under stress, fraying beyond recognition, collecting on the floor of the 2025 baseball season in heaping piles of disappointment.

Soon, the supposedly greatest collection of players in Dodgers history could be history.

Soon, in another country and seemingly in another reality, the Dodgers could lose the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, a hearty band of overachievers who took a three-games-to-two lead Wednesday with a workmanlike 6-1 Game 5 victory at Dodger Stadium.

Dodger Stadium wasn’t so much cheering in the seventh inning Wednesday night, as it was pleading with its team’s maddening offense.

All month, the club’s lineup has looked off. All night in Game 5 of the World Series, it had been shut down by Toronto Blue Jays rookie phenom Trey Yesavage.

But, now, in the bottom of the seventh inning, one last moment of hope arose.

TORONTO — It was a miserably cold, rainy and gray afternoon outside Rogers Centre on Thursday.

Inside the stadium, however, the Dodgers found some rays of emotional sunshine.

No, this is not where the team wanted to be, facing a 3-2 deficit in the World Series entering Game 6 on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

And no, there was not much to feel good about after a disastrous 48 hours in Games 4 and 5 of this Fall Classic, in which the Dodgers relinquished control of the series and allowed their title-defense campaign to be put on life support.

But during an off-day workout, the club tried to rebound from that disappointment and reframe the downtrodden mindset that permeated the clubhouse after Game 5.

The Dodgers face the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Centre on Friday at 5 p.m. PDT.

The Blue Jays lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, meaning the Dodgers must win tonight to keep their World Series hopes alive and force a Game 7.

The game will be televised on Fox, Fox One and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts in the Los Angeles area will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español).

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 6 of the World Series:

If the Dodgers win, Game 7 would be played Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT in Toronto (Fox, Fox One, Fox Deportes).