Dodgers escape late rally to force World Series Game 7

PATRICK SMITH / GETTY IMAGES

For the first time since 2019, the World Series will reach Game 7.

TORONTO >> Miguel Rojas sprawled across the dirt, the baseball firmly enclosed within his glove, a Game 7 somehow on the horizon. All around him, the Los Angeles Dodgers pumped their fists and shredded their lungs. Inside the dugout of the Toronto Blue Jays, disbelief took hold. Somehow, some way, this season was not yet over, not after a heart-stopping ending to a 3-1 Dodgers victory.

On the mound, Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow burst into a smile and accepted hugs from his teammates. He had been called into emergency relief as the Blue Jays battered closer Roki Sasaki and appeared on the verge of a walk-off championship victory. A ground-rule double by Toronto outfielder Addison Barger left two runners in scoring position with none out in the ninth.

It would be hard to script a less desirable spot for Glasnow, who was slated to pitch in Game 7. It would be hard for Blue Jays fans to stomach the ending. After a one-pitch pop-up by third baseman Ernie Clement, Toronto infielder Andres Giménez scalded a liner into left field. Dodgers outfielder Kiké Hernández charged forward to catch the baseball and made a strong peg to Rojas. The throw beat Barger back to second base for a stunning double play that sent Rojas stumbling and this series to the limit.

“Wild,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Wild way to finish it, that’s for sure.”

The World Series will go the distance for the first time since 2019. A classic could await in the finale: Shohei Ohtani could start for the Dodgers. Trey Yesavage, the rookie sensation, could appear in relief behind future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. Each manager will be expected to empty his proverbial kitchen sink of pitchers — such are the rules of engagement for a Game 7.

To get there, the Dodgers fended off the feisty Blue Jays lineup inside the cauldron of noise at Rogers Centre. Mookie Betts delivered his biggest hit in a quiet October. Yoshinobu Yamamoto supplied six innings of one-run baseball. The Dodgers’ bullpen made life interesting, as they tend to do.

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The series had returned to Toronto after three bruising games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers outlasted the Blue Jays across the 18 innings of Game 3. Toronto responded by trouncing the Dodgers the next two nights. The Blue Jays were dinged, with Bo Bichette nursing his knee and George Springer limited by discomfort in his side. The pride of the Dodgers was dented, the entire lineup stuck in a rut.

On their Thursday off day, the Dodgers experienced some unintentional levity. Roberts offered to race speedy rookie Hyeseong Kim around the bases. From first base, Kim spotted several feet to his 53-year-old manager, who once stole 49 bags in a season. Roberts offered proof that the summer of 2006 was long ago. As he cut across the edge of the grass near second base, Roberts blew a tire and face-planted in the dirt. He heaved himself up and pretended to favor his right hamstring.

“That,” Roberts declared on Friday, “will be the last full sprint I ever do in my life.”

A more encouraging display occurred when Ohtani took batting practice. Because Ohtani so rarely takes swings outside before games, his B.P. is considered a must-see. He clobbered baseballs over the right-field fence, including one that reached the Corona Rooftop Patio in the third deck.

The team needed a reset. In the final two games at Dodger Stadium, the group went hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. In the third inning of Game 6, Tommy Edman broke up a dominant stretch from Gausman by whacking a first-pitch fastball for a double. Gausman had struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced, but he ran into trouble as the lineup turned over. After an intentional walk of Ohtani, catcher Will Smith dug out a splitter for an RBI double.

A walk by Freddie Freeman set the table for Betts. He had not batted fourth since 2017. For most hitters, the cleanup spot would not be considered a demotion. But Betts has resided on that elite plane in which managers design their lineups around getting him as many at-bats as possible. He led off for the Dodgers until Ohtani arrived, at which point he became the No. 2 hitter.

Roberts rationalized the demotion by encouraging Betts to simplify his approach. All Betts needed to do was drive in runs. Even after he fell behind in the count to Gausman, Betts cracked a fastball into left field to bring home Ohtani and Smith.

Toronto clawed back a run in the bottom of the frame. Outfielder Addison Barger led off with a triple. Two batters later, Springer stepped to the plate. Springer had missed the previous two games with discomfort in his right side. The discomfort remained visible as he grimaced after each swing on Friday. He still managed to smash an RBI single off a cutter from Yamamoto.

Yamamoto steadied himself to slip through the middle innings. After Bichette hit a one-out single in the fourth, Yamamoto jammed outfielder Daulton Varsho with a splitter to start a 4-6-3 double play. An inning later, he fanned catcher Alejandro Kirk with a stomach-turning splitter and froze Barger with a 97-mph fastball for another strikeout. Because Yamamoto possesses so many weapons, his fastball can turn hitters into statues.

The Toronto lineup turned over for a third time to open the sixth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed back on a curveball and flicked the ball off the left-field wall for a two-out double. As lefty Justin Wrobleski warmed up in the Dodgers bullpen, Bichette walked. Roberts stuck with Yamamoto against Varsho, a left-handed hitter. Yamamoto rewarded the manager for his faith. Varsho swung over a devilish splitter to strand the runners.

Wrobleski replaced Yamamoto for the seventh. Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement clubbed a two-out double. To the plate came infielder Andres Giménez. Wrobleski did not waver. He ended the inning by pumping a 98-mph fastball past Giménez.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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