Most of the Dodgers rushed to home plate to wait for Freddie Freeman, who was rounding the bases after hitting another World Series walk-off home run.
Shohei Ohtani had another destination.
With his left arm wrapped around Roki Sasaki, Ohtani ran toward his team’s bullpen, from which Yoshinobu Yamamoto emerged. When Yamamoto intercepted his two countrymen on the left-field turf, Ohtani pulled him in with his free arm. Joined by their interpreters, the players embraced each other in celebration, jumping up and down.
How appropriate.
Freeman’s 18th-inning blast in the 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays spared Yamamoto from making an emergency relief appearance only two days after pitching a complete game, but there was nonetheless something heroic about him warming up because the only alternative to him scaling the mound in the next inning would have been for a position player to do so.
This sprint of self-sacrifice is what vaulted the Dodgers to a victory in Game 3 of the World Series. This courage to push beyond known limits is why they now have a two-games-to-one edge in the best-of-seven series.
Nine Dodgers relievers followed starter Tyler Glasnow in this 6-hour 39-minute marathon, and five of them pitched more than an inning.
Sasaki provided 1 ⅔ scoreless innings, but the true heroes on this night were the unexpected contributors.
There was Justin Wrobleski, who tossed a scoreless sixth inning and recorded the first two outs of the seventh. There were Emmet Sheehan and Edgardo Henriquez, who pitched 2 ⅔ and two scoreless innings, respectively.
Most important, there was Will Klein, a hard-throwing journeyman on his third team this year.
Klein pitched the last four innings of the game without giving up a run. He threw 72 pitches, which was only seven fewer than Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer.
“It starts with Will Klein,” Clayton Kershaw said. “I think what he did tonight, above and beyond, above and beyond what anybody can expect out of somebody.”
Klein started the year with the Oakland Athletics, who traded him to the Seattle Mariners. He spent the first part of the season with the Mariners’ triple-A affiliate, after which he was traded to the Dodgers, who shuttled him back and forth between the majors and minors. Klein didn’t make the Dodgers’ roster for any of the three previous rounds of the playoffs.
When Roberts called him out of the bullpen on Monday in the 15th inning, he was literally the last resort. But one scoreless inning became two, and two became three, and three became four.
“I started to feel it, and there were times when, like, you’re starting to feel down and you feel your legs aren’t there or your arm’s not there,” Klein said. “You just got to be, like, who else is going to come save me? So I dig deep, do it myself.”
Yamamoto was ready to take over from there.
When Kershaw entered the game with the bases loaded to record the final out of the 12th inning and preserve the temporary 5-5 stalemate, Yamamoto realized only two relievers remained: Henriquez and Klein.
Yamamoto told pitching coach Mark Prior and manager Dave Roberts that he could pitch. Initially, he was certain Roberts wouldn’t take him up on his offer. However, when the situation looked as if it was unavoidable, they decided he should start warming up while communicating with the coaches on how he felt.
Yamamoto said he thought back to when he was a 19-year-old rookie with the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese league. Back then, he was unable to pitch for 10 days after making a start.
He spoke about the years he spent working out with personal trainer Osamu Yada.
“I now have a body that is capable of pitching a complete game in the World Series and pitching again two days later,” Yamamoto said.
Half-kidding, Yamamoto said with a smile, “I think I was able to prove what an incredible man Osamu Yada is.”
By the 18th inning, Yamamoto was throwing in the bullpen. He would have replaced Klein in the 19th inning, but he joked, “I got saved by the home run.”
Because he was throwing, Yamamoto said he didn’t see Freeman’s swing. He only saw the baseball clear the center-field wall.
Kershaw was moved by Yamamoto’s commitment. Yamamoto remains scheduled to start Game 6 on Friday in Toronto, if necessary.
“That’s unbelievable,” Kershaw said. “He just threw a complete game two days ago, cross-country travel, get in at four in the morning (on Sunday), one day rest basically, and go out and say he could pitch. Sometimes, that’s what you need to win a World Series and we’ve got a lot of guys willing to sacrifice to do that.”
Reserve infielder Miguel Rojas said what Yamamoto did could bring the team closer together.
As it is, the bullpen has come together over the absence of Alex Vesia, who isn’t with the team because he and his wife are dealing with what is described as a “deeply personal family matter.” On Monday night, the relievers wore caps with Vesia’s number, 51, stitched on the sides.
“Just something that we talked about,” Kershaw said. “I’m new to the bullpen, but Ves, he means a lot to all of us. He was a huge part of this team, a huge part of that bullpen, so we just want to do something to honor him.”
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