TORONTO -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto did not go the distance, but this World Series will.
A Dodgers team on the brink of elimination beat the Blue Jays, 3-1, on Friday night at Rogers Centre, pulling off a wild game-ending double play to force a winner-take-all Game 7. With everything on the line, everything is on the table, and L.A. could push an intriguing button right from the jump.
Following Game 6, manager Dave Roberts said that “everyone will be available” to pitch on Saturday night, with the starter still to be determined. There are reports it will be Shohei Ohtani, whom Roberts acknowledged as “a possibility” to be the first man up.
"Just kind of figuring out what his temperature is on starting vs. coming out of the ’pen," Roberts said, "and so we're close to a decision."
The two-way superstar will be working on three days of rest after starting on the mound in Game 4 in L.A., when he was charged with the loss after allowing four runs in six-plus innings. Ohtani has pitched on three days' rest only once in his big league career, in April 2023 -- and that was a special circumstance. The first start was cut short after two innings and 31 pitches. In the second, Ohtani struck out 11 across seven scoreless innings against the Royals.
After Game 4, Ohtani said he was planning on being available to pitch later in the Series.
"I want to stay prepared to pitch at any time," he said in Japanese on Tuesday.
Typically, that would mean he would be used out of the bullpen at some point, but the rule concerning the usage of two-way players applies differently to starters than relievers. While Ohtani can remain in the game as the designated hitter after his start on the mound ends, the Dodgers would forfeit their DH if Ohtani entered in relief and did not finish the game on the mound.
That makes it simpler for the Dodgers to deploy Ohtani as the opener rather than only use him in a spot where he could reasonably finish the game, let alone have to figure out how to warm him up without his spot in the order coming up. Tyler Glasnow was in line to pitch bulk innings, and he should still be available after throwing only three pitches while recording his first career save in Game 6.
"I don't know if I've ever [pitched on back-to-back days]," Glasnow said. "But I've pitched, like, a heavy bullpen or something and then pitched. It's not all the same stuff. I threw like barely any pitches. I didn't really warm up a ton either, then I threw three pitches. So I'm good to go."
With Blake Snell also likely available in some capacity, the Dodgers have to like how they're set up on the pitching side. Roki Sasaki threw 33 pitches and did an up-down in a shaky Game 6 appearance, but he may still be the team's best leverage option.
The bigger concern for the Dodgers may be the offense.
In Game 6, they followed their formula for success this postseason. They didn't need Yamamoto to toss a third straight complete game, but he did have a quality start (six innings of one-run ball). He was backed by just enough run support. The Dodgers were able to build a three-run third inning behind knocks from Will Smith and Mookie Betts, but otherwise, they created few chances against the Blue Jays' pitching staff.
Roberts hinted that the reshuffled lineup for Game 6 -- which had Betts hitting fourth and Tommy Edman in center field to open second base for Miguel Rojas -- could be the same one he pencils in for Game 7, even though the Dodgers' starting nine mustered up just four hits and drew four walks.
But it was enough, and their title defense remains alive.
Sending Ohtani to the mound for Game 7 to clinch the first back-to-back championships by a Major League team in a quarter century -- since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000 -- does not come without risk.
Ohtani is one of the Dodgers' best pitchers available, but he does not pitch on short rest. His pitching was strictly regimented during the regular season in an effort to bring him back the right way from a second major surgery on his right elbow.
But they could not be more confident in their two-way superstar on the mound with the opportunity to close out the Series.
"I am. We all are," Roberts said. "This is Game 7, so there's a lot of things that people haven't done, and you've just got to trust your players and try to win a baseball game."