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10/31/25 11:11:00
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10/31 23:09 CDT Dodgers force World Series to decisive Game 7 by holding off
Blue Jays 3-1 as Yamamoto wins again
Dodgers force World Series to decisive Game 7 by holding off Blue Jays 3-1 as
Yamamoto wins again
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
TORONTO (AP) --- 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. Andrs Gimnez then hit a line drive to left field
that Kik Hernndez turned into a game-ending double play.
Hernndez 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," Hernndez 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.
"I gave him a really hard throw to catch. I think it was a better pick than it
was a play on my end," Hernndez 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.
Up next
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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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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