Eight Times the 18-Inning World Series Game 3 Almost Ended
O.K. everybody—exhale.
The longest game in World Series history is finally over (we double-checked, just to be sure).
After 18 long, grueling, tension-filled innings, the Dodgers scraped and clawed their way to a 6–5 win over the Blue Jays to take a 2–1 lead in the series, with first baseman Freddie Freeman delivering the decisive blow with a walk-off home run.
Freeman, last year’s World Series MVP thanks in part to his historic walk-off grand slam in Game 1, once again played hero in a game nobody who saw it will forget anytime soon.
“To have this happen again a year later, to hit another walk-off, it’s kind of amazing and crazy,” Freeman said afterwards. “I’m just glad we won.”
Monday’s Game 3 tied the mark set by the Dodgers and Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, which Los Angeles also won on a walk-off homer.
But long before that conclusion, there were what felt like dozens of near-misses, almost-walk-offs and botched opportunities. The two teams combined to leave 37 runners on base. They went 4-for-26 with runners in scoring position. And there were six runners thrown out on the base paths.
Just accounting for the nine extra innings, one team nearly took the lead in at least half a dozen different ways. Here are all the moments that almost provided an “early” ending to an unforgettable Game 3.
Top of the 10th: Davis Schneider gets cut down at home
On a night marked by questionable base running, the Dodgers got extra innings off to an appropriate start by executing a textbook relay from right field to home. Teoscar Hernández made a perfect feed to Tommy Edman, who threw to Will Smith in plenty of time to nab Schneider.
Smith actually got the tag down well before Schneider arrived at home, but was able to gather himself and apply the tag before Schneider got his hand in.
Top of the 12th: Blue Jays leave ‘em loaded
Toronto threatened to take control in the 12th without ever getting the ball out of the infield. Alejandro Kirk walked to lead things off, followed by a failed sacrifice bunt attempt by Myles Straw. Kirk advanced to second on a groundout by Ernie Clement, then Andrés Giménez was intentionally walked to send Schneider to the plate. Schneider then hit a slow roller to Muncy, who opted to try for a force out at third, but the ball arrived too late.
That prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bring in Clayton Kershaw out of the bullpen, who, after running the count full, got Nathan Lukes to ground out to end the threat.
For Kershaw, who’s retiring at the end of this series, it was the first time in his career he’d ever pitched in extra innings.
Bottom of the 13th: Freddie Freeman nearly does it again
Before we get to Freeman, first, allow us to set the stage. Edman led the inning off with a double, then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. That drew the Blue Jays’ infield in and left Alex Call with an opportunity to end the game with a sacrifice fly. Instead, he popped up to shortstop.
As Toronto did four times on Monday, the team opted to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani, then did the same to Mookie Betts to load the bases for Freeman. Freeman, who hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history in Game 1 of last year’s Fall Classic, nearly gave those at Dodger Stadium another one, driving a ball out to the warning track in center field a few feet short of the wall.
“I was just really trying to hit a single there,” Freeman said of the at-bat. “Get a base hit and move on, get this game over with three hours ago.”
Instead, the game pressed on. According to Statcast, the ball had a 103.9 mph exit velocity and a .600 expected batting average. Instead of history, it was simply a loud out.
Bottom of the 14th: Will Smith comes close
If Freeman’s fly out got people on their feet, Smith’s made them fall out of their chairs.
I mean, just look at this bat drop.
Statcast’s tale of the tape: a 101.5 mph exit velocity and a distance of 383 feet. It would have been a home run in exactly one MLB ballpark (Wrigley Field).
Bottom of the 14th: Max Muncy’s foul ball
This one might not have been all close, but it certainly got the fans off their feet in a hurry.
Had that ball been fair, it would have been a fitting end given Muncy’s role in the longest World Series game of all time. That was Game 3 of the 2018 Fall Classic, when the Dodgers beat the Red Sox, 3–2, in 18 innings thanks to Muncy’s walk-off blast.
Bottom of the 16th: Teoscar Hernández nearly strikes again
By the 16th inning, the charm of a never-ending baseball game seemed to have worn off. There were far more visible empty seats than anyone would have expected in a World Series game, a product of it being nearly midnight and the thought of escaping the Dodger Stadium parking lot surely looming large in the minds of thousands of fans.
Hernández, who opened the scoring in this game with a solo homer in the second inning what felt like 12 days ago, almost brought things to an official end with an opposite field shot that—stop me if you’ve heard this before—died at the warning track.
The fans who’d left early got more time to scamper home to their TVs to watch the ending. The fans still in attendance were sentenced to more baseball.
Bottom of the 17th: Mookie just misses
Betts, who watched Ohtani walk five times on the night, had a chance to call game in the 17th. After roping a ball just foul down the left field line, he ran the count full against Brendon Little, the last man standing in the Toronto bullpen. Instead, he popped up to first base to leave the winning run on second base.
Top of the 18th: Will Klein becomes Houdini
If you hadn’t heard of Klein prior to Game 3, you’d be forgiven. The 25-year-old had made just 14 appearances for the Dodgers during the regular season, spending most of the year in the minors. He was left off Los Angeles’s roster for the first three rounds of the playoffs. And on Monday night, he found himself as the Dodgers’ last bullpen arm standing.
Roberts had used nine relief pitchers before going with Klein for the top of the 15th inning. He proceeded to fire four scoreless innings, throwing 72 pitches (his previous high this season at any level was 45). After walking two batters and allowing them to advance to second and third on a wild pitch, Klein struck out Tyler Heineman to end the threat.
At that point, Game 2 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto—who threw 105 pitches in a complete game Saturday—was warming up in the bullpen, sending this game careening dangerously close to even more chaos. As it turned out, he would not be needed.
Bottom of the 18th: Freddie Freeman delivers the sequel
On the game’s 609th pitch, Freeman decided enough was enough. He parked a 3–2 sinker from Little over the wall in center field, adding yet another historic October moment in a Hall of Fame career full of them.
Given all the times it seemed like Game 3 was certain to end, and then didn’t, there was an element to the evening that felt like we were being tested, or pranked, or punished, or perhaps all three simultaneously. In the end, though, we were treated to one of the best baseball games of all time, all those teased endings merely laying the groundwork for a final scene straight out of a movie script.