World Series Game 6 Takeaways: Dodgers Survive Late Scare To Force Game 7

In a must-win Game 6 connected Friday night, head Dave Roberts and nan Dodgers turned to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to make his 3rd profession World Series start.

Just for illustration his past 2 outings connected baseball’s biggest stage—including a nine-inning gem successful Game 2— Yamamoto dazzled successful a Dodgers win.

In six beardown innings, Yamamoto allowed conscionable 1 tally connected 5 hits pinch six strikeouts. He handed nan crippled complete to nan bullpen successful nan seventh and watched arsenic relievers Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow survived a Halloween-worthy fright successful nan ninth inning to adjacent retired Los Angeles’s 3–1 victory.

The Dodgers and their $350 cardinal payroll are still alive. For nan first clip since nan Nationals defeated nan Astros successful 2019, nan World Series is heading to a Game 7.

There will beryllium shot successful November. But earlier we caput into Saturday, present are 3 takeaways from nan Dodgers’ 3–1 win:

Heading into Game 6, Mookie Betts hadn’t done overmuch of thing successful nan World Series.

Through 5 games, Betts—hitting astatine nan bosom of nan Dodgers’ order—was batting 3-for-23 (.130) pinch 5 strikeouts successful 26 sheet appearances. His struggles coincided pinch Los Angeles’s team-wide slump erstwhile it scored a full of 3 runs successful nan Game 4 and Game 5 losses.

In Game 6, Betts yet came through. With 2 outs successful nan 3rd inning and nan bases juiced, Betts laced a crushed shot into near section to people Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith for a 3–0 lead. It was each nan runs that Yamamoto and institution would need.

If Betts tin proceed to plaything a basking bat successful Game 7, Toronto mightiness beryllium successful trouble.

Kevin Gausman was rolling ... until he wasn’t

Gausman, who mislaid nan Game 2 pitcher’s duel to Yamamoto, couldn’t person started disconnected Game 6 overmuch better. He struck retired nan broadside successful nan apical of nan first inning to get Rogers Centre rocking, becoming nan 12th pitcher successful World Series history to do truthful successful nan opening frame. In his first travel done nan Dodgers’ batting order, Gausman allowed 1 deed and struck retired 7 batters.

It was nan 2nd clip done Dave Roberts’s lineup that was nan issue. Just for illustration successful Game 2, it was Smith getting to Gausman first pinch an RBI double successful nan 3rd inning to commencement a three-run rally.

Gausman battled backmost to decorativeness six beardown innings pinch 3 earned runs allowed and 8 strikeouts. The Blue Jays mislaid some games Gausman started successful nan World Series, but nan 34-year-old logged 2 value starts and 14 strikeouts successful 12 2/3 innings. That’s thing to beryllium ashamed of.

Dodgers rookie starter-turned-closer Roki Sasaki sewage retired of nan eighth inning scot-free. But he ran into problem successful nan ninth erstwhile Alejandro Kirk was deed by a transportation and Addison Barger smacked a ground-rule double to left-center section that sewage stuck successful nan bottommost of nan wall.

Had Barger’s deed not been ruled a ground-rule double, nan Blue Jays apt would person scored a run, and Barger mightiness person been opinionated connected 3rd guidelines successful a one-run crippled pinch nary outs. Instead, Tyler Glasnow entered successful alleviation and slammed nan door.

Glasnow, nan presumed Game 7 starter if nan Dodgers kept nan bid alive, entered nan crippled successful alleviation and instantly sewage Ernie Clement to popular retired to first base. The adjacent batter Andrés Giménez looped a statement thrust to near section that was caught by Enrique Hernández, who fired a propulsion to 2nd guidelines to double up Barger.

We’ll spot you tomorrow night.

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