In the early twilight hours of the evening, when one of baseball’s most remarkable nights still felt comparatively normal, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a prediction.
“Ultimately,” Roberts said during an in-game interview with the Fox television broadcast in the fourth inning, as both starting pitchers were struggling through their outings, “it’s gonna be a battle of the bullpens tonight.”
Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run to center field in the 18th inning of a 6-5 win for the Dodgers in a World Series Game 3 turned out to be so much more.
It was a test of mental mettle. A challenge of sudden-death composure. A battle of physical attrition and emotional fortitude. An instant classic with too many twists and turns to count.
There were sudden shifts and crazy bounces, like when a down-the-line single from Bo Bichette in the top of the seventh ricocheted off a sound technician along the elbow of the wall in foul territory, allowing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to score from first with the help of an errant throw from Teoscar Hernández.
There were big mistakes and even bigger swings, like when Shohei Ohtani got the Dodgers tied again in the bottom of the seventh by clobbering a first-pitch, down-the-middle fastball from Blue Jays reliever Seranthony Domínguez for a solo home run — matching a World Series single-game record with his fourth extra-base hit of the night.
There were game-saving defensive plays, none bigger than when a Dodgers defense that had struggled earlier in the night cut down a runner at home plate in the top of the 10th, after two perfectly executed throws from Hernández and Tommy Edman.
There were heroic outings, from the early scoreless appearances the Dodgers got from youngsters Justin Wrobleski, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Edgardo Henriquez, to the bases-loaded jam future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw escaped in the 12th, to the gutsy four innings that Will Klein provided most of all.
And, finally, nearly seven hours later, it all culminated with Freeman’s walk-off homer, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in this World Series and a win that will be remembered forever at Chavez Ravine.
Initially, Monday’s game was one of momentum swings.
The Dodgers took an early lead with a big blast — and a big break.
In the top of the second, Bichette was picked off after thinking Daulton Varsho had walked, beginning to casually walk to second as Tyler Glasnow threw over. The Blue Jays would put two runners on later in the inning, but thanks to the pick-off, Glasnow was able to strand them.
Momentum had shifted. And right on cue, in the next half-inning, the Dodgers would take advantage.
Teoscar Hernández promptly opened the scoring with a solo blast in the bottom of the second, chucking his bat in celebration of his fifth long ball this October. The Dodgers added on again in the third, going up 2-0 after Ohtani (who would reach base a postseason-record nine times) took Max Scherzer deep despite seemingly getting jammed on an inside fastball in the third.
Alas, the Blue Jays would quickly mount a response, storming to the lead with their own big blast — and their own big break.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Freeman was cut down trying to score from second on a Will Smith single, getting easily thrown out by big-armed right fielder Addison Barger after an over-aggressive send from third base coach Dino Ebel.
Suddenly, momentum had swung back in the Blue Jays’ favor. And right on cue, in the next half-inning, it was their turn to take advantage, with Alejandro Kirk clobbering a hanging first-pitch curveball from Glasnow to center for a go-ahead three-run homer.
The Blue Jays would also add on from there, making it a 4-2 lead on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
The Dodgers would answer back in the fifth, scoring twice after Ohtani hit an RBI double in the gap and scored on a single from Freeman in the next at-bat.
From there, the battle of the bullpens would begin.
The Dodgers tied the score in the fifth, after Scherzer left the mound with one aboard for left-hander Mason Fluharty to face Ohtani. Ohtani, however, would negate the platoon advantage by roping an opposite-field RBI double (his first opposite-field hit since Sept. 20) into the gap. Freeman also won his left-on-left matchup with Fluharty, singling home Ohtani with a ground-ball inside the first-base bag two batters later.
The Blue Jays went back in front in the seventh, on the Bichette line drive that hit the sound guy, ricocheted away from where Hernández was initially running in right field, and took long enough for him to retrieve that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could score all the way from first. A good throw probably still would’ve got Guerrero, but Hernández took Smith up the first-base line.
Ohtani quickly erased that deficit, getting a first-pitch meatball from Domínguez that he launched again the other way into the left-field seats.
Then, there wouldn’t be another run until the 18th — thanks largely to some spectacular defense.
Back in the sixth, Guerrero made a heads-up play on an infield single from Kiké Hernández, alertly cutting the ball off early and throwing back across the diamond to get Teoscar Hernández, who was trying to go from first to third after running on the pitch, with a perfect throw.
In the eighth, Edman made a similar play on a line drive that deflected off Freeman’s glove at first, tracking the ball down in shallow right before turning and firing to third to get Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who like Hernández was trying to go from first to third.
The biggest defensive play came in the 10th, when Teoscar Hernández and Edman turned their relay play on a Nathan Lukes double to get pinch-runner Davis Schneider at the plate as he tried to score from first — ending the inning with Guerrero standing on deck.
Then, there was a stomach-churning jam in the 12th, when Kershaw inherited a bases-loaded jam from Sheehan — and the crowd turned nervously tense, almost as if they were fearing the worst possible ending imaginable to his illustrious but postseason-haunted 18-year career — only for him to escape by getting a ground ball from Lukes that Edman flipped with his glove to first base.
As the night dragged on, Klein also became a hero. The midseason, little-known, trade acquisition who spent most of the season in the minors, hadn’t been on the team’s postseason roster in the previous three rounds, and hadn’t thrown more than 45 pitches in a game all season.
On this night, however, he achieved legend status, returning to the mound inning after inning after inning after inning from the 15th to the 18th, throwing four scoreless frames on an exhausting 72 pitches.
According to the Fox broadcast, Roberts was planning to use a position player past the 17th inning. But after Yoshinobu Yamamoto volunteered to pitch, and went down to the bullpen to begin warming up, Roberts decided to stretch Klein for one more inning.
He got through it, snapping off a curveball for a strikeout that stranded runners on second and third base.
Then, moments later, Freeman finally ended it with a walk-off homer to center.
The post Freddie Freeman is Dodgers’ World Series walk-off hero again in 18-inning marathon win appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
