USA TODAY National
LOS ANGELES – The best player perhaps in the history of the game had his latest Greatest Game Ever in Game 3 of the World Series.
A Dodger legend from a different time, who reached the heights of his profession but also plumbed the depths of playoff misery, saved them in the most gut-wrenching, close-your-eyes, no-not-him fashion imaginable.
The last men on the Toronto Blue Jays’ and Dodgers’ pitching staffs were charged with pitching until tomorrow - or at least long enough for their team to score - and one of them pulled it off.
Gather all those elements, mix them in a diabolical stew only baseball could concoct and the Dodgers and Blue Jays played to a standoff into the 18th inning, until finally, Freddie Freeman saved the Dodgers, with a walk-off home run to dead center field, sending Dodger Stadium into exhausted relief and ending a game that equaled the longest World Series clash by inning, and second-longest by time.
This epic lasted 6 hours, 39 minutes, long enough to contain several games within the game.
Consider this one: After Shohei Ohtani’s game-tying home run in the seventh inning, the teams more than an entire scoreless game – 10 innings of spotless relief work from both pitching staffs.
The only other World Series game longer than this came on these same grounds, same circumstances, nearly seven years to the day: World Series Game 3, lasting 7 hours, 20 minutes until Max Muncy ended it with an 18th-inning solo home run off the Boston Red Sox’s Nathan Eovaldi.
Muncy is still a Dodger, and he nearly did it again, crushing a 14th-inning pitch from Blue Jays reliever Eric Lauer just wide of the foul pole in right field. That merely delayed the Blue Jays’ execution and allowed a window for Freeman’s heroics.
And the walk-off histrionics that followed were as much relief as release.
Sure, there’s plenty of time left in this best-of-seven donnybrook. Yet in taking a 2-1 Series lead, the Dodgers tipped the scales significantly by claiming this 50-50 game in which both teams exhausted significant pitching equity to stay in this fight.
Beyond starting pitchers Ohtani and Shane Bieber, who will be available for Game 4 some 19 hours later? Don’t ask that just yet.
No, when pitching staffs have to cover 18 innings in one game, all bets are off for the remainder of the series. Need visual proof? Yes, that was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw every pitch for the Dodgers in Game 2 just two days ago, getting loose in the 17th and 18th innings. And yes, that was Shane Bieber, slated to start Game 4 later Oct. 28, doing the same for the Blue Jays.
In this stemwinder of a game, both teams took leads of multiple runs but also forged game-tying rallies in regulation the last coming on Ohtani’s game-tying, seventh-inning home run.
His blast to left center field induced the forever baseball that followed, but it was a greater pivot point for the entire series: Ohtani may never get another pitch to hit.
The first half of Ohtani’s night: Double, home run, double, home run. That second home run came after Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker came to the mound in the seventh and held a lengthy conversation with reliever Seranthony Dominguez, likely imparting sage advice such as "be careful."
And then Dominguez piped a first-pitch fastball that Ohtani destroyed for his second homer, bringing us to the second half of Ohtani's night:
Walk, intentional walk, intentional walk, intentional walk, intentional walk, walk - the four free passes a postseason record.
Yep, Ohtani reached base nine times in nine plate appearances, but the Dodgers could not cash him in once Toronto manager John Schneider decided to take the bat out of his hand, perhaps for good.
"Again, man, the guy's a great player," Schneider said, maintaining his upbeat mien in his postgame press conference. "There's certain times where I feel like you feel like, you feel better about someone else beating you.
"If that someone else is Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman it still stings."
Meanwhile, Blue Jays lefty reliever Lauer and Dodgers right-hander Will Klein - the latter most certainly the last man on the Dodgers' playoff roster - pitched 4 ⅔ and four innings, respectively, of scoreless relief.
Incredibly, they weren't the game's most unlikely pitching hero. No, that honor went to a slam-dunk Hall of Famer.
Clayton Kershaw, expected to fulfill a role as long man in the bullpen and hoping perhaps for a final courtesy appearance before the home crowd at Dodger Stadium, entered the game in the gnarliest possible position: Top of the 12th, two outs, bases loaded and the Blue Jays 90 feet away from taking the lead.
Facing Nathan Lukes in a left-on-left situation, the man whose fastball once crackled in the upper 90s and whose curveball Vin Scully once dubbed “Public Enemy No. 1,” decided if he’d go down, it would be almost exclusively with the last functioning tool in his kit.
So, he threw Lukes eight sliders in nine pitches, the last inducing a soft groundball to second base, to end the inning and keep the Dodgers level.
That was just one of the Blue Jays’ points of extreme frustration in the late innings.
In the eighth, ninth, 10th, 12th and 18th innings they put the tying run in scoring position but failed to bring him home. Most aggravating: Pinch-runner Davis Schneider was thrown out at the plate after Lukes’ double in the 10th, a moment that may be rued even more once the very long winter arrives in Ontario.
Oh, we mentioned the greatest player in the game, right?
Yeah, several innings before the extra-innings drama, Ohtani set a Dodgers World Series record with 12 total bases. He’d never swing the bat again on this night, perhaps not in the final few games of this series.
But the patience was worth it. The Dodgers are halfway to a second consecutive World Series title, even if they had to work double time to get there.
Freeman won Game 1 here last year with a walk-off 10th-inning grand slam, against the New York Yankees. The Dodgers never looked back.
This smash, off Blue Jays lefty Brendon Little, may have the same effect.
Here's how Game 3 unfolded in Los Angeles:
Longest World Series game ever: Dodgers-Blue Jays ties the record
Brendon Little got Mookie Betts to pop out with runners on first and second to end the bottom of the 17th and send this to the 18th inning, tying the record for longest game in World Series history.
17 innings! World Series getting weirder
World Series Game 3 is going to the 17th inning at Dodger Stadium after Teoscar Hernandez brought the crowd to its feet with a long fly ball that died just short of the center field wall. Eric Lauer has now tossed 4 ⅔ scoreless innings in relief for the Blue Jays.
To the 16th: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 5
Blue Jays lefty Eric Lauer has completed 3.2 scoreless innings, retiring Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to end the bottom of the 15th.
Shohei Ohtani sets record with fourth intentional walk
Shohei Ohtani has set another record with four intentional walks in the game after getting a free pass from Lauer in the bottom of the 15th.
Dodgers vs Blue Jays among longest World Series games in history
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays are making history in Game 3 of the World Series, just the second time that a Fall Classic game has gone to 15 innings.
The longest game in World Series history took place in 2018, when the Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox on Max Muncy's home run in the 18th inning of Game 3 right here at Dodger Stadium. Prior to the 2018 record-setting affair, the longest World Series game was 14 innings, happening in 1916, 2005 and 2015.
- 18 innings: 2018 World Series, Game 3
- 15 innings: 2025 World Series, Game 3
- 14 innings: 2015 World Series, Game 1
- 14 innings: 2005 World Series, Game 3
- 14 innings: 1916 World Series, Game 2
Dodgers fail to win it in the 13th inning
Tommy Edman led off the bottom of the 13th with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, but the Dodgers were unable to plate the winning run, with Freddie Freeman ultimately flying out to the warning track in center field with the bases loaded.
The Dodgers are 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position tonight.
Clayton Kershaw escapes bases-loaded jam in 12th
Emmet Sheehan loaded the bases in the top of the 12th and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Clayton Kershaw to face left-hander Nathan Lukes. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Kershaw got Lukes to hit a soft grounder to second baseman Tommy Edman, who had to make a glove flip to Freddie Freeman for the final out.
Shohei Ohtani intentionally walked again
Braydon Fisher intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 11th and then Mookie Betts singled, but Freddie Freeman flew out to left to strand the winning run on second.
Emmet Sheehan scoreless in the 11th
Emmet Sheehan retired the Blue Jays in order in the top of the 11th to finish off his second scoreless innings and send the game to the bottom of the frame still tied 5-5.
To the 11th: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 5
Jeff Hoffman worked out of a jam in the bottom of the 10th, getting Tommy Edman to pop out with runners on second and third. Hoffman had hit Will Smith and gave up a single to Teoscar Hernandez
Longest MLB playoff games
- Game 3, 2022 ALDS (18 innings): Astros 1, Mariners 0
- Game 3, 2018 World Series (18 innings): Dodgers 3, Red Sox 2
- Game 2, 2014 NLDS (18 innings): Giants 2, Nationals 1
- Game 4, 2005 NLDS (18 innings): Astros 7, Braves 6
- Game 6, 1986 NLCS (16 innings): Mets 7, Astros 6
- Game 5, 2025 ALDS (15 innings): Mariners 3, Tigers 2
- Game 2, 2022 ALWC (15 innings): Guardians 1, Rays 0
- Game 5, 1999 NLCS (15 innings): Mets 4, Braves 3
- Game 2, 1995 ALDS (15 innings): Yankees 7, Mariners 5
- Game 1, 2015 World Series (14 innings): Royals 5, Mets 4
- Game 2, 2015 ALDS (14 innings): Rangers 6, Blue Jays 4
- Game 3, 2005 World Series (14 innings): White Sox 7, Astros 5
- Game 5, 2004 ALCS (14 innings): Red Sox 5, Yankees 4
- Game 2, 1916 World Series (14 innings): Red Sox 2, Robins (Dodgers) 1
Dodgers cut down go-ahead run in the 10tth
Davis Schneider was thrown out at the plate to the end the top of the 10th trying to score from first on Nathan Lukes' double into the right field corner. Teoscar Hernandez got the ball to Tommy Edman, who delivered a picture-perfect relay throw to Will Smith to get Schneider.
Could not draw that up any better defensively.
What's the most innings in a World Series game?
The Dodgers and Red Sox played an 18-inning game in the 2018 World Series, the longest in Fall Classic history.
Extra innings in World Series Game 3!
Jeff Hoffman intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani with the bases empty and one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the MVP-to-be was caught stealing second, unable to stay on the base after initially getting in ahead of the tag.
Roki Sasaki escapes top of the ninth
To the ninth: Blue Jays 5, Dodgers 5
With runners on second and third in the top of the eighth, Roki Sasaki came in to get the final out will come back on to start the top of the ninth, his first appearance in this World Series. Chris Bassitt pitched a scoreless eighth for the Blue Jays and now if the Dodgers are to notch a Game 3 win, it will be of the walk-off variety.
Shohei Ohtani home run ties Game 3 in the seventh
LOS ANGELES - Shohei Ohtani is almost singlehandedly keeping the Dodgers afloat in World Series Game 3 as it heads toward a scintillating conclusion.
Ohtani's second home run of the night off Blue Jays reliever Seranthony Dominguez tied the score 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium.
It came with one out and the bases empty and trustworthy right-hander Dominguez on the mound. Just to make sure, pitching coach Pete Walker came out to consult with Dominguez and catcher Alejandro Kirk.
The meeting had scarcely broken up when Ohtani jumped on Dominguez's first pitch, a poorly located fastball, and directed it into the stands in left center field.
Ohtani's night? Double, homer, RBI double, game-tying homer. All he needs is another blast to straightaway center to baptize every corner of the Dodger Stadium outfield.
Don't put it past him.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sneaks in to put Blue Jays in front
LOS ANGELES - A dribbler down the first base line, a fortuitous bounce and one of the most unlikely trips around the bases pushed the Blue Jays into the lead heading to the bottom of the seventh inning of World Series Game 3.
Bo Bichette knocked a two-out single off Blake Treinen into foul ground, where it kicked up off the oddly-angled side wall, nearly struck a Fox Sports sound man and dribbled back toward the infield.
And Vladimir Guerrero, the Blue Jays' franchise player, picked up his pace and chugged home ahead of Teoscar Hernández's throw, sliding in awkwardly just ahead of the tag to give Toronto a 5-4 lead.
George Springer comes out with injury
George Springer, Toronto's designated hitter and leadoff man, winced and immediately walked toward the dugout after a seventh-inning swing as he faced Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski.
Springer, who has been playing through significant knee pain, clutched his left lower back after his swing, consulted briefly with manager John Schneider and a trainer and walked to the dugout.
He was replaced by pinch-hitter Ty France, who struck out.
Ohtani and Freeman tie it up for Dodgers: 4-4 through five
LOS ANGELES - This time, there were no protestations from Max Scherzer.
No "No!" screamed at his manager, John Schneider. Just vigorous head nods, a look of capitulation and a seamless handing over of the baseball as Shohei Ohtani loomed at the plate, representing the tying run.
Yet the maniacally competitive Scherzer's bullpen could not bail him out.
Reliever Mason Fluharty hung a two-strike sweeper that Ohtani belted into the left field corner, trimming Toronto's lead to one run. And then Freddie Freeman hooked a single inside the first base line, sending Ohtani home clapping his hands in joy as the Dodgers tied Game 3 of the World Series 4-4 after five innings.
As crisp as Scherzer often looked during much of his outing, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer lost any chance at staying in the game when he gave up a leadoff single to No. 8 hitter Kiké Hernández. Going to the lefty Fluharty with one out and Ohtani up made total sense.
Yet in a game in which both clubs have held the lead, it is now knotted up as the Dodgers reach into the nether reaches of their leaky bullpen and hope to live to tell about it.
Alejandro Kirk home run ambushes Tyler Glasnow
LOS ANGELES - The Blue Jays ambushed Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, and perhaps changed the complexion of this entire World Series in a four-batter span.
Alejandro Kirk spanked a Glasnow first-pitch curveball over the wall in left center field for a three-run home run, erasing a two-run deficit as the Blue Jays took a 4-2 in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the World Series.
Kirk, their typical clean-up hitter, was moved to the No. 6 hole with the return of Bo Bichette from injury. And after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked and Bichette reached on an error from second baseman Tommy Edman, Kirk sent the next pitch over the head of a leaping Andy Pages to take the lead.
Toronto was not done peppering Glasnow, as Addison Barger and Ernie Clement contributed consecutive singles to set up a sacrifice fly from No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez. With Glasnow's pitch count drifting north of 60, it also enhanced the chances the Blue Jays get a crack at the Dodgers' struggling bullpen.
Shohei Ohtani home run makes it 2-0 in the third
LOS ANGELES - WIth a vicious uppercut swing, Shohei Ohtani registered another body blow for the Dodgers in World Series Game 3.
Ohtani ripped a Max Scherzer fastball skyward and into the Dodges' bullpen in right field, their second home run in as many innings as they took a 2-0 lead after three innings of Game 3.
While Ohtani is just 11-for-48 in these playoffs, he's now homered in consecutive games. Despite his longball and Teoscar Hernández's shot into the left field bullpen the previous inning, Scherzer, 41, has looked generally sharp, striking out three in three innings.
He was bailed out by right fielder Addison Barger, who threw out Freddie Freeman trying to score from second on Will Smith's single to end the inning.
Teoscar Hernández home run puts Dodgers in front
LOS ANGELES - For the third time in as many games of this World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers struck first.
Teoscar Hernández ripped a Max Scherzer pitch into the Dodgers' left field bullpen to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead after two innings.
Hernández's homer was his eighth over the past two postseasons for the Dodgers, who dodged a second-inning threat but have also struck out three times against Scherzer.
Max Scherzer works around Shohei Ohtani leadoff double
LOS ANGELES - Brad Paisley and Hideo Nomo exited stage right, and the Hall of Famers came out to play.
A star-studded Game 3 of the World Series began with ear-splitting boos for Dodger nemesis George Springer, and the first inning ended with Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer stranding Shohei Ohtani on second base by striking out Will Sith on a full-count curveball.
That rendered Ohtani's leadoff double moot, as Mookie Betts flew out to right field, Freddie Freeman popped to third base and Scherzer, the 41-year-old who will enter Cooperstown five years after he decides to stomp around major league mounds, winning a seven-pitch battle with Smith.
Max Scherzer makes World Series history
Across his Hall of Fame career, Max Scherzer has been part of numerous pieces of MLB history.
That laundry list will continue when he takes the bump in the bottom of the first inning at Dodger Stadium in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Los Angeles Dodgers: first pitcher in MLB history to pitch in the Fall Classic for four different franchises.
Blue Jays' George Springer booed to start Game 3
LOS ANGELES – George Springer has spent the past six seasons enduring a cacophony of boos whenever he plays a road game, lingering fallout from his role in the 2017 Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, uncovered publicly in 2019.
Yet time, and place, and context matter so much and that’s why it hit very different – and a lot louder – Oct. 27 as Springer led off Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.
Blue Jays lineup today
- George Springer (R) DH
- Nathan Lukes (L) LF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
- Bo Bichette (R) 2B
- Daulton Varsho (L) CF
- Alejandro Kirk (R) C
- Addison Barger (L) RF
- Ernie Clement (R) 3B
- Andrés Giménez (L) SS
Dodgers lineup today
- Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
- Mookie Betts (R) SS
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Will Smith (R) C
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
- Tommy Edman (S) 2B
- Enrique Hernández (R) LF
- Andy Pages (R) CF
Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, one last time
LOS ANGELES — “Max and I are definitely linked. We got to play together. And now I get to do this again,” says Clayton Kershaw, who was joined in the rotation by Scherzer at the 2021 trade deadline after a deal with Washington as the Dodgers won 106 games, but bowed out in the National League Championship Series.
“I think I'm too old, now. But Scherz can keep going. He's doing great stuff, obviously. It's fun to see us coming up together, being able to do this. It's a lot of fun.”
For the better part of two decades, Kershaw and Scherzer were the ultimate alphas, Kershaw quietly doing a very good Sandy Koufax emulation over 18 seasons, Scherzer crafting a Mad Max persona that was backed up by utter dominance in every town he invaded. — Gabe Lacques
World Series schedule 2025
- Game 1: Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4
- Game 2: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1
- Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
- Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
- *Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
- *Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
- *Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
Los Angeles Dodgers World Series roster
Pitchers (12): LHP Anthony Banda, LHP Jack Dreyer, RHP Tyler Glasnow, RHP Edgardo Henriquez, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Will Klein, RHP Roki Sasaki, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Blake Snell, RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Justin Wrobleski, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Position, two-way players (14): SS Mookie Betts, OF Alex Call, OF Justin Dean, INF/OF Tommy Edman, 1B Freddie Freeman, INF/OF Kiké Hernández, OF Teoscar Hernández, INF/OF Hyeseong Kim, 3B Max Muncy, DH/P Shohei Ohtani, OF Andy Pages, INF Miguel Rojas, C Ben Rortvedt, C Will Smith.
Toronto Blue Jays World Series roster
Pitchers (12): RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Shane Bieber, RHP Seranthony Dominguez, RHP Braydon Fisher, LHP Mason Fluharty, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Jeff Hoffman, LHP Eric Lauer, LHP Brendon Little, RHP Max Scherzer, RHP Louis Varland, RHP Trey Yesavage.
Position players (14): C Tyler Heineman, C Alejandro Kirk, INF/OF Addison Barger, INF Bo Bichette, INF Ernie Clement, INF Ty France, INF Andrés Giménez, INF Vladimir Guerrero Jr., INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, OF Nathan Lukes, OF Davis Schneider, OF George Springer, OF Myles Straw, OF Daulton Varsho.
World Series umpires for Game 3
- Home plate: Mark Wegner (crew chief)
- First base: Alan Porter
- Second base: Adam Hamari
- Third base: Jordan Baker
- Left field: Will Little
- Right field: Adrian Johnson
- Reserve: John Tumpane
World Series national anthem for Game 3
On Oct. 27, country singer Brad Paisley will perform the national anthem at the 2025 World Series.
The Nashville star will hit the field before Game 3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles between the Toronto Blue Jays And Dodgers. The two teams split the first two games in Toronto. — Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean
World Series announcers on Fox
- Joe Davis, play-by-play
- John Smoltz, color commentary
- Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci, dugout reporters
World Series winners by year
- 2024: Dodgers
- 2023: Rangers
- 2022: Astros
- 2021: Braves
- 2020: Dodgers
- 2019: Nationals
- 2018: Red Sox
- 2017: Astros
- 2016: Cubs
- 2015: Royals
- 2014: Giants
- 2013: Red Sox
- 2012: Giants
- 2011: Cardinals
- 2010: Giants
How many times have the Dodgers won the World Series?
The Dodgers have won eight World Series titles in franchise history – one in Brooklyn and seven in Los Angeles
- 1955 vs. Yankees
- 1959 vs. White Sox
- 1963 vs. Yankees
- 1965 vs. Twins
- 1981 vs. Yankees
- 1988 vs. Athletics
- 2020 vs. Rays
- 2024 vs. Yankees
What time is the Dodgers game today Pacific Time?
Game 3 of the World Series begins at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Blue Jays World Series appearances
Toronto won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 (vs. Braves) and 1993 (vs. Phillies), the only times in franchise history the club has reached the Fall Classic since coming into existence in 1977.
When did the Dodgers move to LA?
The Dodgers left Brooklyn after the 1957 season, playing their first game in Los Angeles in 1958.
The New York Giants departed for San Francisco at the same time, bringing the NYC rivalry to the West Coast.
Did Vladimir Guerrero win a World Series?
Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero never won a World Series title, making his only Fall Classic appearance for the Texas Rangers in 2010, the penultimate of his 16-year MLB career.
How tall is Alejandro Kirk?
Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk is 5-foot-8.
What time is World Series? Dodgers vs Blue Jays Game 3 today
Monday's game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Freddie Freeman walk-off home run wins Dodgers longest game in World Series history
Reporting by Gabe Lacques, Jesse Yomtov and Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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