When There's a Will There's a Way: Los Angeles Dodgers win 6-5 in game Three of World Series against Toronto Blue Jays
Heading into the game with the series tied, The Los Angeles Dodgers take the lead against the Toronto Blue Jays, winning Game Three of the World Series. On the mound for this game was right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow for the Dodgers and for the Blue Jays it was right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer.
The Dodgers scored first in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a Teoscar Hernández 412-foot solo home run, making it 1-0 Dodgers.
In the bottom of the third inning, Shohei Ohtani shot a 389-foot solo home run to make the score 2-0 Dodgers.
The Blue Jays saw this and decided to flip the script. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was walked to start the fourth inning, and an error by Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman let Bo Bichette reach first base. With runners on first and third base, Alejandro Kirk blasted a 394-foot three-run home run to center field making the score 3-2 with the Blue Jays in the lead. With runners on the corner again Andres Gimenez came in and hit an RBI (runs batted in) sac fly to score Addison Barger. The Blue Jays extended the lead to 4-2.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Enrique “Kike” Hernandez started it off with a single. Starting pitcher Max Scherzer was taken out when Shohei Ohtani came up to bat. Blue Jays manager John Schneider looked to his bullpen, brining in Mason Fulharty to face Ohtani.Ohtani doubled, allowing Kike to score and cutting the Blue Jays lead to 4-3. With Ohtani still on second base, Freddie Freeman singled which allowed Ohtani to come home, tying up the game 4-4.
The game remained tied until the top of the seventh inning where Guerrero singled and from first base was able to score via a Bo Bichete single. Score: 5-4, Blue Jays take the lead.
Ohtani, seeing this, took matters into his own hands and cracked a 401-foot solo homer to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh.
The eighth and ninth innings finished with no change to the score, sending the game into extra innings. If the Blue Jays score in an extra inning, that means the Dodgers have a chance to score in the bottom of the inning. If they cannot, the Blue Jays win. But if the Blue Jays don't score and the Dodgers bring in a run in the bottom of the inning, that is called a walk-off — and the Dodgers win.
Extra innings were where the bullpen and defense of both teams shined. In the top of the 10th inning, with two outs, Nathan Lukes hit a double into right field, but thanks to a defensive play by Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman, catcher Will Smith was able to tag Davis Schneider out at home.
It is important to note that both teams have used a good amount of their bullpen already in the regular nine innings because the starting pitchers went in for only four innings. The Blue Jays have eight relievers in their bullpen and the Dodgers have nine, thanks to Ohtani’s ability to both hit and pitch. The Blue Jays had already used four bullpen arms, and the Dodgers had used five.
In the top of the 12th inning, Clayton Kershaw was able to escape a bases-loaded situation, while Eric Lauer was able to handle traffic in the bases without letting any Dodger batter score.
Pitcher Will Klein came in for the Dodgers in the top of the 16th inning, the last bullpen arm. If he couldn’t continue to go on, the Dodgers would have to look at their starters to warm-up and pitch.
In the bottom of the 17th inning, the last Blue Jays bullpen arm Brendon Little came in to pitch. With traffic on the bases, he was able to get out of the seventeenth inning with the game still tied.
Klein was still pitching for the Dodgers in the top of the 18th inning. In the bullpen was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the starter for game two who had told Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers, that he could pitch if the game continued. Klein, able to strikeout Tyler Heineman for his fifth strikeout, let out a roar hyping up the Dodger dugout.
Freddie Freeman came up to bat to lead-off for the bottom of the 18th inning. Freeman found himself in a full count, three balls and two strikes, meaning this last pitch would probably be the last one he saw. If it's a ball, he walks; if it's a strike, he is out. Little fired the sixth pitch of this at-bat, and just like a year ago, Freeman was the hero of this game, launching a 406-foot solo homer to walk-off and win the game.
Six hours and 18 innings later, the Dodgers came out on top, beating the Blue Jays 6-5. Ohtani went 4-for-4, hitting a double, a home run, another double, and another home run. In extra innings, Ohtani was intentionally walked four times meaning the Blue Jays did not want to pitch to him. Klein, a reliever who didn't expect to pitch in the World Series, threw four shutout innings, striking out five batters and cementing his name in Dodger history.
The only other time a World Series went to the 18th inning was in 2018. Coincidentally, that was also in Game three and the Dodgers faced the Boston Red Sox. That game ended with a walk off homerun in the 18th inning, too, by Max Muncy.
Game Four of the World Series starts Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m., with Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shane Bieber for the Toronto Blue Jays.