The Los Angeles Dodgers have no other choice but to go into the Rogers Centre in Toronto and win back to back games if they are going to defend their World Series title.

That’s the dilemma they were placed in when they lost Games 4 and 5 at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers appeared to be in a lot of trouble going into Game 6 because they were not hitting. Their collective slump was especially notable with men on base. When Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman started the game with two perfect innings, it didn’t look like anything would be different in Game 6. But Will Smith changed that for the Dodgers in the top of the third.

Smith came up with runners on first and second and turned around a Gausman sinker and lined it into the leftfield corner for a double. That hit drove in Tommy Edman and sent Shohei Ohtani to third base.

Mookie Betts made a serious contribution two batters later. The slumping Dodgers shortstop had been frustrated throughout the World Series, but he got a fastball he liked from Gausman and lined it into left center for a base hit that drove in two runs. Suddenly, the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead with ace pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound.

First three-run inning for Dodgers in World Series

The Dodgers had scratched out runs in the World Series, but the third inning marked the first time in the six game that they had scored as many as three runs in an inning. The relatively big inning had lifted a burden from the Dodgers and they appeared to be more relaxed.

The Blue Jays were able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the third inning off of Yamamoto, but the Dodgers hurler also induced two double plays in the first four innings.