A two-run lead was starting to slip away from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth inning — along with their chance to force a World Series Game 7 — when Kiké Hernández made history.
Hernández turned what looked like a tying, two-run single by Andrés Giménez into the first game-ending left field-to-second base double play in postseason history, preserving a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 on Friday night at Rogers Centre.
Instead of a repeat of Joe Carter’s iconic three-run walk-off homer from 1993, the Blue Jays were left stunned, their championship hopes pushed to the limit. The Dodgers, meanwhile, live to fight another day — keeping alive their bid to become the first repeat World Series champion since the 1998–2000 New York Yankees.
“It’s the two best words in sports: Game 7,” Toronto manager John Schneider said afterward.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 25-year-old Japanese ace and three-time NPB MVP, beat Toronto for the second time in a week, allowing one run on six hits across six innings. His poise on the mound and command of his splitter steadied a Dodgers team hitting just .191 in the Series.
Mookie Betts — dropped to cleanup for the first time since 2017 — finally broke through. His two-run single capped a three-run third inning against Kevin Gausman, giving Los Angeles all the offense it needed.
That inning began with Tommy Edman’s double, followed by an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani — his fifth of the Series — and an RBI double off the wall by Will Smith. After Freddie Freeman walked, Betts lined a 1-2 fastball between short and third for a 3-0 lead, ending the Dodgers’ 0-for-13 drought with the bases loaded dating to the Division Series.
Toronto got one back in the bottom of the third when George Springer, returning from a sore right side, hit an RBI single. But that would be all the offense the Blue Jays could muster against Yamamoto and the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski stranded a runner in the seventh with a strikeout of Giménez, and Roki Sasaki wriggled out of a jam in the eighth when Bo Bichette fouled out and Daulton Varsho grounded out.
Sasaki hit Alejandro Kirk with an 0-2 splitter to start the inning. Addison Barger followed with a drive that lodged at the base of the left-center wall — a ground-rule double, not a live ball, as many fans initially believed. The call prevented two runs from scoring and placed runners on second and third.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then made a bold move: summoning Tyler Glasnow, who was lined up to start Game 7 on normal rest. Glasnow needed just three pitches to earn the first save of the Series — and arguably the most unusual in World Series history.
After Ernie Clement popped out, Giménez lifted a soft liner to shallow left. Hernández, who had shifted in slightly before the pitch, sprinted 52 feet and made a running catch with just a 40% probability of success, according to Statcast. Without hesitation, he fired a one-hop throw to Miguel Rojas at second base to double off Barger, who was halfway to third.
Even after the umpire’s emphatic “out” call, the teams waited 60 tense seconds for replay confirmation. Once upheld, the Dodgers’ dugout erupted, Hernández mobbed by teammates for completing the first outfield-assisted game-ending double play in World Series history, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Yamamoto improved to 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason starts — including a 1.20 ERA in his two World Series outings. His Game 2 complete game, a four-hitter, was the first in the Fall Classic in a decade.
“Yoshi’s been incredible,” Roberts said. “He doesn’t flinch, no matter the moment. He’s the reason we’re still playing.”
The World Series now shifts to a decisive Game 7 on Saturday night, marking the 10th time the Fall Classic will end in November.
Toronto will turn to Max Scherzer, the 41-year-old veteran who threw five solid innings in Game 3’s 18-inning marathon. Los Angeles has not yet announced its starter — possibilities include Shohei Ohtani, on short rest, or Tyler Glasnow, if he recovers from Friday’s three-pitch cameo.
Scherzer will become just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to start multiple World Series Game 7s, joining legends Bob Gibson, Lew Burdette, and Don Larsen.
For both teams, the stakes could not be higher. The Blue Jays seek their first championship since 1993; the Dodgers aim for their third title in six seasons — and baseball’s first repeat champion in a quarter-century.
Tomorrow night, the October Classic turns to November, and the world will watch as one final game decides it all.
Game 7. Dodgers. Blue Jays. Everything on the line.
