At LAT, "Dodgers beat Red Sox in the longest game in World Series history:
The joyous throng gathered around home plate at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, seven hours and 20 minutes after this monstrosity of a baseball game had begun.Still more.
Never before had a World Series game lasted this long.
Never before had a playoff game lasted this long. Never before had the Dodgers experienced a victory quite like their 3-2 walkoff over the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the World Series, an 18-inning agony that ended with sweet relief when Max Muncy launched a solo home run.
"The feeling was pure joy and excitement," Muncy said. "That's about all I can think of, because it's hard to describe how good a feeling it is."
The Dodgers crowded the plate as Muncy rounded the bases. Dodger Stadium teetered with delirium. Muncy disappeared inside the throng, having taken Boston pitcher Nathan Eovaldi deep and perhaps tilted the balance of this series. The Dodgers still trail in the series, 2-1. But the cost of Boston's pitching decisions may last beyond the marathon.
Eovaldi had been listed as Boston's starter for Game 4, scheduled for Saturday evening. Instead he pitched six innings, logging 97 pitches and effectively wiping himself out of consideration for the next two games at Dodger Stadium. Boston manager Alex Cora did not commit to a replacement in the aftermath. As if the series required more intrigue, at 1:27 a.m., the Dodgers announced their Game 4 starter was no longer Rich Hill, but would be named later.
Eovaldi had been listed as Boston's starter for Game 4, scheduled for Saturday evening. Instead he pitched six innings, logging 97 pitches and effectively wiping himself out of consideration for the next two games at Dodger Stadium. Boston manager Alex Cora did not commit to a replacement in the aftermath. As if the series required more intrigue, at 1:27 a.m., the Dodgers announced their Game 4 starter was no longer Rich Hill, but would be named later.
The particulars of Game 3 boggle the mind. The teams combined to throw 561 pitches. There were more strikeouts (34) than hits (18). Muncy ended the game in his eighth plate appearance. It was his first time up after nearly ending the game by hooking a ball just foul down the right-field line.
"My goodness," infielder David Freese said. "I don't even know what happened tonight. Man. How do you pull a walkoff homer barely foul and then go oppo tank next AB? That's incredible."
The postgame celebration was far from raucous. The players were too tired to gloat. Around the 15th inning, the team's chef distributed peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches. The Dodgers built a shrine composed of bananas and paper cups, with infielder Brian Dozier pouring sunflower seeds as an offering to the baseball gods.
Around the 16th inning, Hill went to Roberts and asked: What do you need? The Dodgers needed offense, more than pitching. Clayton Kershaw appeared as a pinch-hitter in the 17th. He lined out, in one of the better at-bats by a Dodger in the late hours.
The sluggish offense performance underscored a reality from Game 3: a loss, and a 3-0 deficit, would have been devastating.
"Huge win, because of a lot of different factors," utility man Enrique Hernandez said. "Not only are we down, 2-1, instead of 3-0, but they put a toll on their bullpen, as well."
Hernandez's voice was hoarse. The fans who stayed at Dodger Stadium until the end could relate.
"As the game kept going, you look up and see the 18th inning, and you're like 'Holy cow, where did the game go?' " Muncy said. "Those last nine innings or so just kind of blended together."
A series of excruciating outcomes sent the game into extra innings. A symbol of urgency rose midway through the seventh inning, as the Dodgers clung to a one-run lead against baseball's best offense. Kenley Jansen had logged only a pair of two-inning appearances all season, but the time for caution had long passed. Needing a victory to stall Boston's momentum, Roberts turned to his closer.
After seven scoreless innings from rookie ace Walker Buehler, it was up to Jansen to slam the door. He could not. He served up a tying solo home run tor Jackie Bradley, Jr., on a 2-0 cutter with two out in the eighth. Jansen returned for a scoreless ninth, but his mistake ruined a gorgeous outing from Buehler, who struck out seven and permitted two hits in seven scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers squandered an opportunity. One day removed from an 88-pitch start in Game 2, Boston's David Price loped into the game. He gave up a leadoff single to Cody Bellinger. Trying to put himself in scoring position, Bellinger got picked off, moments before Yasmani Grandal took a walk. Cora turned to closer Craig Kimbrel, who walked Chris Taylor but got pinch-hitter Dozier to pop up and strand the runners.
The decision to use Dozier was puzzling, with Freese on the bench...
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