My heart rate was approaching 100 watching maybe the greatest baseball game I have ever seen. This game had so many heroes, but the final hero with another walk off was Freddie Freeman. In the 18th inning, on a 3-2 pitch, Freddie hit a ball 406 feet over the CF fence. It was a center, center sinker that Freddie did not miss. 7 years ago in WS Game 3, also in Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers went 18 innings before Max Muncy hit a walk-off against Boston. These were the two longest games in WS history.
Oct. 25, 2024, Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off grand slam in World Series Game 1. Oct. 27, 2025, Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off home run in the 18th inning of World Series Game 3. Freddie Freeman is the first player in World Series history with multiple walk-off home runs.
I am a huge advocate for good defense. Toronto had it and early the Dodgers did not, but then the Dodgers did.
Tommy Edman boots a DP ball that set up 4 runs, 2 runs earned. Get the DP, no runs score. Alejandro Kirk hit a 3 run HR to put the Blue Jays up.
After Freddie stole 2nd, Will Smith singled to RF where Addison Barger fielded it and threw a strike home to get Freddie at the plate.
Contrast that with Vlad Guerrero Jr, on 1st, Bo Bichette hit an awkward single that hit strangely off the wall down RF line for a single. Guerrero came all the way around to score when Teoscar made a poor throw home.
With Teoscar on 1st, Kiké Hernández got an infield single that Andrés Giménez threw late to 1st, but Vlad Jr came off the bag and caught the throw in front of 1B, and threw a strike to 3B to get Teoscar for the 3rd out.
Mookie made multiple good plays, but made an error on an Addison Barger ground ball for the Dodgers 2nd error.
But the Dodgers flashed a little leather of their own in the 9th. With a runner on 1st, Daulton Varsho hit a line drive off Freddie’s glove and Tommy Edman slid to field the ball and threw a strike to 3B to get the runner.
Then in the 10th with 2 outs, Ty France hits a flair into LF for a single and Nathan Lukes followed with a double down the line that Teoscar fielded cleanly at the wall, threw a strike to Tommy Edman, who threw another strike to Will Smith to get PR Davis Schneider at the plate for the 3rd out.
After the error, Tommy Edman was flashing his GG. The Dodgers do not get to extra innings if Edman does not make those plays.
I am a Tyler Glasnow fan, but even I have to admit that he lets things that do not go right (like an error) get the better of him. He needs to follow Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s lead and let it go. He could have got out of the inning with no runs, but he let the error get the better of him.
Blake Treinen (and Dave Roberts) struck again in the 7th. Justin Wrobleski threw 28 fairly stress free pitches and got the first two outs but Roberts decided that Treinen was a better choice to pitch to Vlad Jr. Wrong choice. Vlad singled. That was followed by that bizarre single off the off the wall down the RF wall that scored Vlad Jr. Treinen then gave up a 3rd straight hit before getting the 3rd out.
Jack Dreyer and Roki Sasaki tip-toed through 2.0 scoreless IP. Emmet Sheehan followed for 2.2 IP. Just like Glasnow, he gave up a leadoff BB to Alejandro Kirk. After a fielders choice and the runner on 3rd, Sheehan IBB Giménez to get to Davis Schneider who hit a dribbler to 3B that turned out to be an infield single.
Summons Clayton Kershaw. He got to 3-2 to Nathan Lukes who hit another dribbler, this time to 2B where Edman made another defensive web gem with a glove scoop throw Freddie to get Lukes at 1B for the 3rd out.
I am so happy for Kershaw who got the Dodgers out of a very tough situation. If this was Clayton’s last game, what a way to go out.
The Dodgers were down to 2 pitchers: Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein. Henriquez entered in the 13th, got two outs but then hit Varsho. He completed one of his best outings of his career, with 2.0 scoreless innings.
Tonight a hero was born. Will Klein entered in the 15th. He got two quick outs and gave up an infield single to Guerrero Jr. before striking out Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He then proceeded to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings allowing 1 infield single and 2 BB with 5 K. He had never pitched more than 2.0 innings before. The most pitches he had thrown in a game was 36. In WS Game 4, he threw 72 pitches (49 strikes).
The acknowledged weakness of this LAD team is the bullpen. The relievers came through in a huge way in this win. Only Blake Treinen allowed a run in 13.1 innings of relief pitching. The two pitchers who were the last pitchers added to the roster were Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein. 6.0 shutout innings. Will Klein got a WS win he will never forget.
Offensively, this was another Shohei showcase. Two solo HR, 2 doubles (one run-scoring), four IBB, and one unintentional BB. First MLB hitter to reach base 9 times in a post-season game. He is also the first player with four extra-base hits in a World Series game since 1906.
Teoscar hit a HR and added three singles. Freddie had a run-scoring single before his walk-off.
Kiké Hernández had two singles but struck out 3 times.
In the 13th inning, Edman took an outside pitch and went with it into RC field for a double. Can’t remember the last time I heard that a Dodger hitter went with the pitch. A sacrifice bunt, a pop up, and two IBB brought Freddie to the plate who flew out to CF.
The Dodgers thought they had it won in the 14th when Will Smith hit a ball that would normally go out, but died at the wall. Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie both hit balls they thought were gone but not on this night.
If the Dodgers had not won it in 18, Yamamoto was going to come in and pitch the 19th after pitching a complete game on Saturday.
The game was 6 hours and 39 minutes.
The Dodgers left a lot of runners on base (18), and were 2-14 wRISP. But all anyone will remember is that the Dodgers won on a Freddie Freeman walk-off HR…again.
Freddie may have walked it off, but the hero of the game was Will Klein. What a performance. The bearded wonder was super human. Absolutely incredible.
Davis had a great line; he said Klein was clean shaven when the game began. Klein is just 25. He and Henriquez make Kopech expendable. Power arms out of the pen are what most teams want. Kersh’s first pitch was 87. But he got the job done.
With the ability to get the hitter to swing at ball four twice, Kersh was great.
I agree. Kopech has pitched his last game as a Dodger. Klein has earned an automatic spot on the 26 man, breaking camp.
Wow….abandoning Kopech this soon? I don’t get it….wasnt he pretty darn good in the playoffs last year?
Kopech pitched very well in the LDS against the Padres. In the LCS and World Series, he was not as effective. He struck out 10 but walked 7 in the two series in just 5.2 innings. He also allowed 5 hits. Kopech will be 30 next April. He makes 5 mil plus and is a free agent. Henriquez is 22. Klein will be 26 next month. At some point the pen needs to be younger. Klein and Henriquez both at MLB minimum.
I saw some comments on the previous post putting a lot of blame on Mookie who had an awful night at the plate, but there was plenty of blame to go around. The team was 2-14 with men in scoring position. It seemed like everybody was trying to hit a walk off homer instead of having some situational hitting. Edman, Rojas, Smith, Freeman and Muncy all had 2-out chances to drive in a runner. LA struck out 13 times, Jays, 16. Smith, who normally is a very good clutch hitter, struck out 4 times. Pages at least made some contact, problem is, he did not get on base at all. He needs to sit and think about things. I have no problem with them putting Kike in Cf and Call in left. Pages at this point in time is way too pull happy. He slipped back into the same mode he was in back in April, when he came () this close to being sent down. Happy for Klein and Henriquez. But I doubt either is available for tonight’s game. Ohtani is going to need to go 7. They need to jump all over Bieber.
Pages is swing straight UP. He had 4 pop-ups one lazy fly balls. He looks like a guy launching fungoes for the catchers. He’s spent on breaking balls and tardy of fastball, a lot. They teach launch but his bat is in the zone at about one contact point.
He’s hitting home runs in an elevator shaft.
Crazy game. Great game. Just an epic for the ages.
To me, Will Klein was Hero #1, followed by Freddie for the walk-off, Shohei for his incredible box score, and then Edman for two great throws that atoned (as the scribes like to say) for his early error.
As for the Jays, I salute the amazing Alejandro Kirk. Gotta love Alejandro.
In about the 10th inning, one broadcaster was suggesting that whichever team prevails will also have a huge psychological advantage going forward. Made sense to me at the time.
But now I find myself thinking that Blue Jays may not feel so discouraged. Everybody knows that the Dodgers are a superteam and the defending champ–and the Jays battled them toe-to-toe.
Still, with Shohei taking the ball tomorrow, I like the Dodgers’ chances.
Thanks for the rundown. I bailed after 12.
Strange game. The two unearned runs early changed everything. Sure would like to see better defense but that is not how the team is constructed.
Should the league consider the ghost runner for the playoffs? I think so. Two more games before a break after a game like that really stresses a roster.
The much maligned bullpen really came through. For both teams. That was a 0-0 game for 8 1/2 innings.
2 for 14 WRISP. They must do better. The strategy will likely be to walk Ohtani and pitch to Betts for the rest of the Series. Will Mookie respond? Can Mookie respond?
After 1-1 the team that wins Game 3 wins the series 60% of the time. Game 4 should be interesting. Sure hope Ohtani is on.
Betts is hitting .133 so far in this series. Toronto will walk Ohtani until Betts makes them pay for it.
The team needs a 2011 David Freese-type performance from somebody other than the top 3 in the lineup. Who is the most likely candidate for that?
It saddens me to see Betts hot then cold then hot….then cold.
Great game!!! Certainly an understatement. After watching Klein throughout the year I thought he has some of the best stuff on the team. The only question was could he throw strikes. He sure proved himself tonight. Henriquiz another one with stuff but inconsistent command. Most happy for the Dodger win but so happy for Kershaw. I was saying no no no when Doc brought him into an almost impossible situation. I could c the headlines Kershaw chokes on another one. I didn’t want him to be the goat. So happy the way that turned out for him. He can hold his head high. As Freeman said his abs kept getting better throughout the game. Are the Dodgers up 2-1 or 3-1 lol?
The dude who batted against him was very generous, swinging at ball 4 twice.
Maligned all year, the bullpen comes through and wins the biggest game of the year! Wow!
A bunch of guys won’t be available tonight. Will Sasaki? He threw 29 pitches. I think Wrobleski has just exceeded expectations thus far along with hero Klein and Henrique. I thought Roberts managed the game very well last night. OTOH Toronto I think made a mistake taking Kirk out but I suppose tonight might vindicate the move. What toll will it take on Will tonight? This game tonight will test the mental toughness of all. Ohtani was clutch last night. He was disciplined at the plate and he can be streaky. He looks like he is in streak mode if he ever sees a strike again. If on, Ohtani has great stuff. The jays can’t pitch around that. If the jays have lost springer it is a big loss. If it is the oblique he is done. Betts has been dismal at the plate but u got to give him an A for effort. Taking batting practice in the middle of the game. I still think their offense has a bigger game in them.
What a team
Been up all night (game started at midnight here) but worth the tiredness today. What a game. Would’ve been gutting to lose that one.
Ultimately Doc pressed the right buttons, but if it had been me, I would have made sure my last pitcher was a bulk guy, Wrobo, Sheehan or Kershaw. He burned CK on one batter, but I was so relieved when he came up trumps. It was a ball that would have Walked in a run, but all’s well that ends well. Turns out Yamamoto was the next Cab off the rank.
I was also surprised by Sneider’s decisions too. No way I’m taking Kirk out at any point. That man is raking. Let’s hope the injury to Springer isn’t anything trivial. My least favourite player.
Its a quick turnaround but I think we’re better equipped to deal with it, although Shohei looked gassed in his post game interview, plus was looking a bit cautious when running the bases, and I would think only Klein and Henriques would be unavailable tonight, possibly Sheehan. Hopefully Roki has some gas left in the tank.
I hope that Alex gets the Call because his at bats looked far more impressive than Pages who has lost his confidence completely. Kiké can play CF.
The HPU got tired too. He wasn’t nearly as good in extras.
Win tonight and things are looking good….
Yoshi was willing to pitch 2 days after his 9 inning game. What about Snell? He would be pitching 3 days after he pitched and 2 days before his next start. Makes more sense for him to come in. Did he volunteer?
Snell is starting tomorrow, and Yama does not start again until Friday. When making that decision, they are looking forward, not backwards.
Actually I think it’s the other way round, Snell only had 2 days before his next outing whereas Yamamoto had 4 days so less impactful if he’d pitched.
Not sure what it would have meant if he’d had to pitch multiple innings though.
Well, that was an amazing game! I hung in there until the end. And, what an ending!!
As Jeff stated in the headline “A Night of Heroes”. Tommy Tanks went from goat to hero defensively. An 18 inning game allows that to happen. The bullpen came through huge for the Dodgers. The offense continued to struggle. Especially with RISP. Freddie came through again with “here, hold my beer” moment.
I can’t remember so many popups in a game. It seemed like every Mookie AB ended with a popup. The Toronto manager finally realized after four extra base hits by Ohtani that walking him was the thing to do followed by Mookie’s futility.
Credit to Phil Jones in his assessment of Will Klein earlier in the season. He felt that Will had the talent and arm to be successful in the Dodger bullpen. I liked his stuff as well. As with many young hard throwing BP prospects control is the issue. Will came into the game and forever cemented his name in Dodger history. Add Wrobleski, Sheehan, and Henriquez to the list of young pitchers who really stepped up. Very happy too that Kershaw possibly ended his Dodger career on a positive note.
Pages and Treinen should be eliminated from further use in this Series.
How does Will Smith come back tonight after catching 18 innings last night?
How effective will Ohtani be tonight after being on base nine times? That could have played into Schnieder’s strategy to walk Ohtani after his first four ABs. To keep Ohtani on his feet. But, with Ohtani it may not make a difference.
I thought Joe Davis had a funny comment. He was complimenting Will Smith’s clutch hitting and catching abilities while Will was at bat and said he might be the most well rounded catcher in baseball. With the 5’8″ 245lb Kirk squatting behind him I thought it might be a misplaced comment. Lol.
Usually the announcers don’t bother me much. But, as Phil Jones and others have mentioned John Smoltz just never stops talking. And Davis with all the stats. I think there was 5 minutes of silence in the 18 inning game.
The 18 inning victory should be considered for two games as therealten suggested. Wouldn’t that be nice.
Looking forward to tonight’s game and seeing how the players react to playing two games yesterday and today. Especially the bullpens.
Carry on.
Agree whole heartedly that Pages and treinen should be placed in cold storage. Better options exist Classic game thanks Jeff for another great synopsis. go dodgers
Pages was 0 for 5 but no strike outs. Muncy 0 for 7 with 3 Ks, Edman 1 for 8 with 2 Ks and Smith was 1 for 6 with 4 Ks. Nobody is going to bench those guys. I think Pages is close. The Dodgers don’t have a centerfielder. He’s the guy. I leave him in there. He’s going to go Freese any day now.
Hey Badger. I think Pages has already gone “Freese” in the postseason. Just awful. I’m a fan of Pages and are patiently waiting for him to start contributing. He has made better contact the last two games. So, maybe there’s some hope for him. Dean is the only legit CF besides Andy. Edman played there last night for a few innings, but he is better at 2B mainly because of his ankle situation.
Other than Freddie and Teoscar the Dodger offense has been very quiet. I don’t think the Blue Jay’s pitchers are that intimidating. Yet the Dodgers are having a heck of time scoring without hitting HRs.
What an idiot I am. Of course Shohei Ohtani is having a monster series after being irrelevant earlier in the postseason. I hope Schneider lets him hit, but I understand if he doesn’t. Toronto better win tonight or the Series could be over on Wednesday.
Then they better lose to get it over with on Wednesday.
Your usually right Badger if you are this time change your name to Houdini
When will Roberts wake up and realize that using Treinen is a mistake.
Doc has to pitch somebody. If you’re on the roster, you have to do your job. Doc had few choices.
He had choices and Treinen has been the wrong one for quite some time now.
Probably never until Treinen is no longer a Dodger. Doc trusts the guy even though the results have not been good. He should not have pulled Wrobleski.
Doc and the nerds believe in the righty v righty and lefty v lefty. Wrobleski was pitching very well, but Doc’s and the nerds’ book says bring in a righty to face Guerrero. When will he learn to trust what he sees on the field? Wrobo got Kirk, Clement, and France, all RH hitters. The only hit came from LH Hitting Barger.
Wow
I’d love to break this game down but I don’t know where to start.
Two quick thoughts.
I love that our younger pitchers (Robo, Sheehan, Edgardo, Klein) are getting incredible experience on the Big Stage! Bodes well for 2026!
Does anyone notice that Pages has virtually no ability to “climb the wall” in center to take away a home run? I noticed this several times this season.
It seems Pages baseball IQ and concentration are very poor.
Jeff, I felt the same on that HR to break up Yamamoto’s no hitter. I don’t know how far over the fence it was hit, but at least show the pitcher and your teammates that you did everything you could to catch the ball and preserve the no hitter. It’s a bad look. He certainly does some weird stuff on the baseball field. He reminds of Matt Kemp who was fantastic athlete, but had no baseball sense whatsoever.
He reminds me more of Yasiel Puig.
That’s one of Jeff’s big complaints about Pages( and rightly so). Pages is adequate in CF but the Dodgers need someone better in ‘26. The situation, as it is right now, is why I thought AF would have traded for Bader.
Yes. It has been a persistent peeve of mine all year. He did the same thing on Jackson Holliday’s HR that broke up Yama’s no hitter. There were plenty of his supporters who swear he could not have caught it. We will never know because he didn’t even try.
He also lets everything hit in from of him drop for a single. He does not see the ball off the bat. He does not run routes well, gets late jumps, does not know how to turn and run to the ball. But there will be those who swear by his defense. He has a GREAT arm. I know that Varsho did not catch Freddie’s HR, but at least he made an attempt. He ran to to the ball and was waiting for it at the wall with Will’s F8.
I will say it again. The Dodgers need an elite defensive CF who can hit, even if not at the elite level. Elite “D” in CF.
As a former college CF I was taught to run to a spot on a ball hit over my head, not cruise back. It’s especially true when trying to catch a ball heading over the fence. He doesn’t do it and to me, moving him to a corner spot wouldn’t do much. As far as coming in on a ball hit directly at you, it’s much easier to gauge the flight of the ball in left or right vs center. I really don’t think it’s easy to teach- as a CF you either have it or you don’t. I don’t think he has it.
I have never been a Pages fan but he did surpass my expectations this year. I wanted Outman’s defense in CF with Pages in RF (until traded) and Teo in LF.
Just for the fun of it and to entertain myself, I offer Glasnow, money, and Pages to the Cubs for Armstrong.
If you were a Cubs fan, would you do that? Depending on the $$$, maybe they would.
I will say that my scouting report on Mark Wegner was pretty accurate. You had to throw it in the dryer from 60 feet.
But I have to give him a shout out; the man had to call 609 pitchers. That has to be a record. I think he needs a day off for resting his body and his eye balls.
Game well played:
Smith, 18 innings and so many blocked balls in the dirt. Some of his at bats showed he was tired but he came so close to hitting a walk off home run.
Sheehan finally getting to start an inning and showing he belongs in the rotation.
Henriques throwing strikes.
Kline going after hitters as if he knew he was going to have to finish the game and couldn’t afford to waste a single pitch so he just threw strikes.
Ohtani using the whole field again and maybe, just maybe, Muncy noticed.
I made it through the 18 innings and so did my wife. It was a great game.
good point Bum. Muncy rolled over a ground ball out to 2nd on a pitch on the corner away that he just can’t pull.
Per Jeff Passan – An hour after one of the best baseball games you’ll ever see, Sandy Koufax made his way into the Dodgers’ clubhouse to applaud Will Klein for what he did on Monday.
How special does Will Klein feel after that?
It was a good idea to wait an hour so that Klien could remember it. Otherwise it would been part of the blur he was experiencing.
What a proud Dad:
Love this
I am a defensive junkie. Two of the best defensive plays we will ever see:
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How does Edman make this play?
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Look how far off the bag Guerrero was when he caught the ball and fired to Clement. He know he was not going to get the hitter, so he went after Teo. If he waited at the bag, Teo makes it easily.
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What an unbelievable game.
So many heroes for both teams. Luckily for the Dodgers they had the biggest heroes of the game. Klein and Freddie.
The much maligned bullpen (sans Treinen) redeemded itself in one gigantiv effort in the biggest game of the year (so far).
Lets hope the Dodgers use this game to catapult them to a back to back WS title.
Mentally the Dodgers should be sky high . With shohei and Snell going next two games the Dodgers are in great shape from a starting pitching standpoint.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the top of the 8th, I texted my Blue Jays fan buddy “this is going to be a really tough loss for one of these teams”. I didn’t expect it that to happen 10 innings later, but regardless.
I wasn’t so worried if we lost that game, as we bounced back right away from tough losses (Yama 8 2/3 no hitter game) and put it behind us. I do wonder how Toronto will deal with it.
Ohtani who must be exhausted but excited, vs the veteran Bieber. Today’s gona be wild.
I wonder who will be available out of the pen today for both teams.
For the Dodgers I assume Henriquez and Klein will be not available for sure. Sasaki and Sheehan probably only in emergency roles.
Kersh and Dreyer, Banda and Treinen should be good to go.I can see Wrobo giving some length if needed.
Lets hope Shohei is not too tired after that marathon game and being on base all 9 times.If we win today I think we finsih them off in game 5.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ya, if Shoehei and/or Bieber don’t have it early, they may still need to wear one for the team thru at least the 4th
In an 18 inning game, there are 54 outs to be made. The pull side power happy hitters on the Dodgers had 17 fly outs, 11 pop ups, and 2 line drive outs (trajectory not exit velo). They also had 13 strikeouts. Yes they did get 4 solo HRs, perhaps a residue of their philosophy. But it does not need to be that hard.
Time for Mookie to make them pay for walking Ohtani. Turn their fear of giving up one run into a crooked number.