Blue Jays will go the distance as Dodgers force World Series Game 7

Reigning champs rode clutch 3-run third inning, then hung on for dear life to survive the ninth

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Published Oct 31, 2025  •  5 minute read

Blue Jays batter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reacts after the third out of the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. Photo by Emilee Chinn /Getty Images

To get this close to the peak, so close that a city, a country and a packed and pumping downtown Toronto stadium was craving for a party, nothing has come easily for the hard-working Blue Jays.

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So would you really have expected anything less than what happened on Friday and what awaits the following night?

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What has turned out to be a magnificent World Series will go the distance between the last-to-first Jays and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

After the National League champs rode a clutch three-run third inning, then hung on for dear life to survive the ninth for a 3-1 win, Game 7 and all its sporting splendour is now officially a date at the Rogers Centre for Saturday night.

Nervous and pressure-packed, sure, but fitting that what has been an at-times remarkable and almost always resilient season for the Jays will come down to such a high-wire showdown to claim their third World Series title and first in 32 years.

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Given all they’ve overcome this season, there’s little to suggest that the Jays aren’t up to the task, of course.

They bounced back from that 74-win season a year ago with renewed commitment and drive and the deeper they went in the season, the more confidence they employed.

They overcame injuries.

They needed a final week surge to lock up first place in the division, a burst that also secured them home field for Saturday’s Game 7.

And in the ALCS against the Mariners, the Jays came back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to prevail in another showdown that went the distance.

Here in the Fall Classic, it has been a whirlwind best-of-seven series that already has delivered so much. After splitting the first two in Toronto, the Dodgers got the upper hand by outlasting the Jays through an epic, historic 18-inning game that had to have felt like a sledgehammer blow to the Jays.

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Instead, they won the next two to return to Canada with a 3-2 series lead and needing to win just one of Game 6 or 7 to triumph.

So bring on Game 7 then and all that goes with it. A Blue Jays team that fought in so many ways just to get here isn’t likely to back down now.

Our takeaways from a Game 6 that came up just short for the home side:

THE SCENE

After three games in SoCal, the return to Toronto certainly lit up the city and the Rogers Centre, a sellout crowd of 44,710 buzzing early in anticipation.

They were fired up over starter Kevin Gausman striking out the side in the first.

They could sense something magic happening with a pair of runners on and one out in the eighth and Bo Bichette coming to the plate as the potential go-ahead run.

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And they seemed to delight with everything attached to a potential championship clinching team in their home stadium.

“This is why you sign up to do this, as a manager or a player, so you have to enjoy it,” manager John Schneider said of the scene, acknowledging that the finish line being in sight provided further amplification. “There always comes a time, a Game 6 or a Game 7, where you’ve got to take a step back and appreciate it.

“You don’t really think about the magnitude of anything historical or things like that in the moment. You’re just trying to do what you do.”

What the Jays have done all season is defy the odds and repeatedly. And now they’ll attempt to do it in a Saturday night showdown.

STUCK WITH IT?

What a turn of events in the bottom of the ninth when the Jays felt that they had tied it on a dramatic hit by Addison Barger, a massive blast to left centre that got lodged between the warning track dirt and the bottom of the wall.

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With pinch runner Myles Straw on base for Alejandro Kirk — who was hit by a pitch — both Jays runners stormed around the bases while Dodgers left fielder Enrique Hernandez didn’t move, prompting the umpires to rule it a ground rule double. That left runners on second and third with nobody out, but when Tyler Glasnow, on in relief, got the final three outs, the Dodgers escaped disaster and moved on to Saturday.

Adding pain to the loss for the Jays was the fact that Barger got doubled off at second to end it, an untimely bit of suspect work on the basepaths.

A wild finish to what has been a terrific series.

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WHAT TO DO WITH OHTANI?

Pitch to the Japanese superstar and you risk having it blow up in your face. Intentionally walk him and he’s still dangerous.

The Jays learned that the hard way in the third with two out and Tommy Edman on second, Schneider put up the four fingers for the automatic pass and a double from the next hitter, Will Smith, brought across the first run of the game with a hard-hit double. And when the ice-cold Mookie Betts ripped a single, two more runs crossed and the Dodgers had a three-run lead.

It was all tightness from there, though.

The Jays scored once in the bottom half of the third but neither team got a runner across the rest of the night.

Did Schneider do the right thing pitching to Ohtani? Hindsight might fight the call considering that at that point the Japanese superstar hadn’t had a hit since Game 3. The reality? Difficult to fault the manager, even in hindsight.

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WHAT ABOUT GAUSMAN?

The Jays had their ace on the mound and Gausman certainly seemed up for the task, especially with his splitter dominating Dodgers hitters in the early going.

The veteran righty struck out the side in the first. He added two more strikeouts in the second, and when he added another to Enrique Hernandez to start the third, that was six of the first seven batters he faced.

Then came the mini Dodgers rally, one which would provide them with all the runs they’d need.

Gausman had the misfortune of dueling against Yamamoto for each of his two World Series starts. After the three runs allowed, he retired the next 10 batters he faced before the Toronto bullpen took over for the seventh.

In fact, the Dodgers had just four hits on the night, and in some respects got away with one.

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WHAT’S NEXT?

How about a Game 7 to decide the World Series between the defending champs and a team that finished last in the AL East a season ago.

What a moment, what a stage.

The Jays are already Game 7 tested this October after a 4-3 win here over the Mariners fuelled by a three-run George Springer home run in the seventh inning.

Schneider plans to go with 41-year-old veteran Max Scherzer while prior to Friday’s game, the Dodgers had yet to decide on their starter. There were suggestions, however, that manager Dave Roberts was considering with using Ohtani as an opener.

As if Game 7 needed any more drama.

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