The Los Angeles Dodgers secured a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the World Series, a contest that lasted 18 innings and echoed their previous marathon win against the Boston Red Sox seven years earlier. Freddie Freeman delivered the decisive blow with a home run off Brendon Little, giving the Dodgers a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.
Dodgers rookie reliever Justin Wrobleski reflected on the unusual length of the game: “I look up at the scoreboard and the innings that I pitch are no longer on the scoreboard,” he said. “That’s probably the craziest thing.”
Shohei Ohtani made history by becoming the first player since 1906 to record four extra-base hits in a World Series game. He homered twice, doubled twice, walked five times—four intentionally—and tied a record by reaching base nine times. Ohtani remained in play despite suffering a leg cramp during an attempted steal in the ninth inning.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw commented on Ohtani’s endurance: “And he’s got to pitch in like, I don’t know, 12 hours, 13 hours.”
The game featured 609 pitches thrown over six hours and thirty-nine minutes. Forty-four players participated, including nineteen pitchers. Both teams struggled with runners in scoring position; Los Angeles left eighteen runners stranded while Toronto left nineteen.
“It takes everybody to win a World Series,” said Max Muncy of the Dodgers, recalling his own eighteenth-inning home run from 2018.
Defensive plays were prominent throughout. Addison Barger threw out Freeman at home plate for Toronto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. caught Teoscar Hernández at third base, Tommy Edman threw out Isiah Kiner-Falefa from short right field for Los Angeles, and Hernández assisted Edman in throwing out Davis Schneider at home.
Toronto starter Max Scherzer summed up the eventful night: “Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy game.”
Sandy Koufax was present until the end of this lengthy contest. Clayton Kershaw came out of retirement plans to pitch from the bullpen with bases loaded in extra innings—a first for him—delivering his fastest pitch since July 2024. Kershaw and other relievers wore caps marked with “51” as a tribute to Alex Vesia who missed the series due to personal reasons.
“I throw gas now,” Kershaw joked after his appearance.
Rookie Will Klein earned his first postseason win after pitching four scoreless innings and striking out Tyler Heineman with runners on second and third in the eighteenth inning. Klein spoke about pushing through fatigue: “There were times when you’re starting to feel down and you feel your legs aren’t there or your arm’s not there… So I had to dig deep, do it myself.”
Blake Snell was unavailable after throwing a bullpen session earlier; Yoshinobu Yamamoto volunteered as backup relief but was not needed as Klein finished strong.
“He was in the next inning,” said manager Dave Roberts regarding Yamamoto’s readiness. “He would have gone as long as we needed. He would have been the last guy.”
Second baseman Miguel Rojas prepared himself mentally for possible pitching duties late into extra innings—something he had done during regular season mop-up appearances: “I was thinking about actually pitching, trying to throw at least one fastball and one breaking ball.”
Players passed time between innings with fruit platters while Wrobleski changed outfits multiple times hoping for good luck: “Well, I went sweatshirt and then I went no sweatshirt and then I went two different pairs or three different pairs of shoes. The third pair of shoes finally worked,” he said.
Kershaw noted that only some of his children witnessed this historic finish: “At least two of them did.”
