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 a gut punch 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 Addison Barger, which itself was a curious moment, as Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean successfully had play stopped when the ball got pinned under the outfield wall.
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With runners on second and third, 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 a second out on a fly ball from Andrés Giménez.
Then he got the third out when left-fielder Kiké Hernández caught Barger too far from second base, with Miguel Rojas getting the ball just in time and tumbling over on contact. Ballgame.
The Rogers Centre crowd, ready to celebrate a 1993 Joe Carter redux, was left stunned by a double play to end the game with a Dodgers victory.
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Hernández has become a cult hero for Dodgers fans over the past decade with his clutch postseason hitting, defensive versatility and clubhouse presence, but he never had a bigger play than that one.
“I was playing a little more shallow than the card wanted me to,” Hernández told Fox Sports after the game. “Given the situation, really fast guy at second base, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to play really, really shallow, and if he hits it over my head, credit to him.’
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“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 ’cause it was in the lights the whole time. Given the situation of the game, World Series on the line, I was like, ‘It’s going to hit me in the face, but I’m not stopping. I’m not pulling up.’”
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Game 7 is going to be all-hands-on-deck
The Blue Jays were hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but their plan for Game 7 is relatively simple. Veteran Max Scherzer will get the start, with another former Cy Young winner in Shane Bieber likely behind him, and then the bullpen.
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As for the Dodgers, well, don’t expect anyone to throw more than a few innings. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts declined to name a Game 7 starter after the game but acknowledged that Shohei Ohtani is a “possibility” to start on three days’ rest. That would make sense, as that’s the only way Ohtani can stay in the game after pitching without playing the field.
Glasnow said after the game that he’ll be available as well. It helps that he threw only three pitches to get three outs, another costly component of that ninth-inning disaster for the Jays. You might figure Dodgers Game 5 starter Blake Snell could be available for an inning or two on two days’ rest as well.
And even Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in his Game 6 start, said he’d be ready to go in if asked, just like he was ready to enter the 18-inning Game 3 in relief. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts threw cold water on that idea a few minutes later but said every other pitcher on the roster will be available. Buckle up.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts got the Dodgers there
To win Game 6, the Dodgers rode another gem from Yamamoto. He didn’t throw a complete game like in 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 him this postseason.
Nearly two years ago, the Dodgers gave Yamamoto $325 million before his first MLB pitch. It was an enormous bet on his deep arsenal of pitches and arguably the best Japanese pitching career ever translating into an MLB ace.
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He has now made three World Series starts and holds a 1.27 ERA, with 18 strikeouts and 10 hits allowed in 21 1/3 innings. He will get Cy Young votes this season. It’s safe to say Yamamoto has lived up to the contract and then some.
“Every game I go out and pitch because I always feel that I don’t want to lose,” Yamamoto said postgame through an interpreter. “We can’t afford to lose.”
The Blue Jays sent out Kevin Gausman, who was once again dominant — with one exception. The right-hander retired his first seven batters and his final 10 batters, but in between came 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 this series that the Dodgers scored more than two runs in an inning.
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Yamamoto made sure it counted with his outing, and Justin Wrobleski, Sasaki and Glasnow took it home with three combined scoreless innings. With timely hits and a complete performance by the pitching staff (with a couple of big breaks), it was the kind of win the Dodgers hadn’t had for this entire Fall Classic.
And now we get 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.
Live coverage is over111 updates
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 8:08 p.m. EDT
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:35 p.m. EDT
Game 7 begins at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:33 p.m. EDT
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:13 p.m. EDT
Glasnow gets Clement to pop up, and then Gimenez flies out and into a stunning double play.
Hernandez catches the fly ball in left and immediately throws to Miguel Rojas at second, and the ball beats a sliding Addison Barger to the plate for out No. 3.
That’s a sudden end to the Jays’ rally and this Game 6. And it’s the first save of Glasnow’s career.
We will have Game 7 tomorrow.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:12 p.m. EDT
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.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:08 p.m. EDT
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.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:04 p.m. EDT
Myles Straw will pinch run for Kirk, with Barger coming to the plate.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:02 p.m. EDT
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.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 11:00 p.m. EDT
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.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 10:58 p.m. EDT
Kiké Hernandez also goes down swinging. That’s two in the top of the ninth.
Fri, October 31, 2025 at 10:56 p.m. EDT
Chris Bassitt is pitching for Toronto now. He gets Muncy swinging for the first out of the ninth.
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.
Jack Baer
Bichette fouls out. Varsho next up with two outs.
Jack Baer
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.
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.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
72.2 mph, right into the dirt.
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.
Jack Baer
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.