By RONALD BLUM
TORONTO (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto defeated Toronto for the second time in a week, the slumped 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 into a decisive Game 7.
Yamamoto wasn’t as sharp as he was in his Game 2 four-hitter, the first complete World Series game in a decade. He lasted six innings, allowing an RBI single in the third to 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 save the Dodgers.
Glasnow only needed three throws to do so. With runners on second and third base and no one out, he got Ernie Clement to place his first pitch on the infield for an easy out. Andrés Giménez then hit a line drive to left field, which Kiké Hernández converted into a game-ending double play.
Hernández caught the ball at the point in shallow left-center and shot to second base, where Miguel Rojas made a tough call on a one-hop throw to double Addison Barger.
“I played a little more shallow than the card wanted. But given the situation, a very fast guy at second base, I thought, you know what? I’m going to play very, very shallow. If he hits it over my head, kudos to him. I feel like his pop is more on the pull side,” Hernández said.
“Somehow I could hear the bat breaking right with that crowd. The funny 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 well I was hitting tonight, I thought he was going to hit me in the face – but I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to pull up. And at the very end, the ball came out of the lights and went into my glove.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first 7-4 doubleheader in postseason history.
“I gave him a very difficult throw to catch. I think it was a better choice than a play on my side,” Hernández said.
Sasaki beat Alejandro Kirk with an 0-2 pitch to start the inning, and Barger hit a ground-rule double to left-center that lodged at the bottom of the wall.
At that point, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called up Glasnow.
“I just felt there, Roki wasn’t that sharp and I felt right there, Glas is a swing-and-miss kind of guy and I just wanted to bet on him,” Roberts said. “He did everything he could to make an impact.”
Max Scherzer will start Game 7 for the Blue Jays on Saturday night. The three-time Cy Young Award winner also started the final World Series Game 7 and received a no-decision as Washington won the 2019 title over Houston.
“These guys are really good at turning the page,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “That’s going to take a while to play out. That’s a wild ending. I like the way we played.”
Glasnow was in line to possibly start for the Dodgers in an effort to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000. Two-time star Shohei Ohtani could also serve as an opener.
“I don’t think there’s a wrong answer at this point,” Roberts said. “He’ll definitely be part of the pitching plan, and with Shohei it could be two innings, it could be four innings. So I’m not sure where we’re going to put him. We’ll have to talk to him first about where he feels most comfortable.”
Los Angeles kept its bid for a third title in six seasons alive and hoped 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 his first consecutive full postseason 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 appearances.
Kevin Gausman lost to Yamamoto for the second time, despite tying a Series record, 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 walked intentionally 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 and brought up Betts. The three-time World Series champion went just 3 for 23 in the Series and had fallen from second to third in the lineup for Game 5. He was moved down another spot to clear Friday, his lowest in the batting order since 2017.
Behind the 1-2 count, Betts committed an error on two pitches and placed Gausman’s third straight fastball between shortstop and third for a 3-0 lead. That ended an 0-for-13 bases-loaded streak for the Division Series Dodgers.
“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 guys. I came into a big spot. … I just found a way to lock myself 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 posting victories with them in Games 4 and 5 in LA.
Toronto scored when Barger doubled to start the third, coming 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 jam in the eighth by eliminating Bo Bichette on an error and Varsho on a grounder.
Next
Scherzer and Glasnow started Game 3, won by the Dodgers 6-5 in 18 innings. Scherzer, a 41-year-old right-hander, becomes the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series winner-take-all Game 7s, following 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 from 6-2.
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