World Series: Freeman gives Dodgers epic win after 18 innings

With a game-winning home run by Freddie Freeman, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6–5 on Monday night in an 18-inning thriller, tying the record for the longest game in World Series history.

The reigning Major League champions prevailed after nearly seven hours, capped by Freeman’s game-winning home run that sent Dodger Stadium into a frenzy shortly before midnight.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 series lead in the playoffs and can secure the title by winning the next two games on Tuesday and Wednesday, also at home.

Freeman, first player to hit two game-winning home runs in a World Series

Freeman, 36, is the first player to hit two game-winning home runs in World Series games, adding to last year’s first-inning grand slam against the New York Yankees.

The only other World Series game to stretch 18 innings came in 2018, when the Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox on a game-winning home run.

"This one took me a little longer, but the game was unbelievable.... It didn't get any better," Freeman told AFP. "My swing was getting better as the game went on. I'm glad I got another chance."

New record for Ohtani

In addition to Freeman, the night featured other standouts, including Mexico’s Alejandro Kirk, who hit a three-run home run for the Blue Jays, and especially Shohei Ohtani, who added to his growing collection of baseball records.

The Dodgers superstar was the first player to reach base nine times in a playoff game, including four hits and five bases on balls, four of them intentional.

"The most important thing is that we won and what I accomplished today is in the context of this game," Ohtani said. "I want to go to sleep as soon as possible so I can get ready." He is scheduled to make his debut as a pitcher in the Fall Classic on Tuesday.

Toronto isn't giving up: "The Dodgers didn't win the World Series today, they won a game"

“This group will be ready to play tomorrow,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “These guys had the right mentality and state of mind at all times… The Dodgers didn’t win the World Series today, they won a game.”

As in the previous two rounds, the Dodgers opened the scoring with a solo home run by Dominican Teoscar Hernández in the second inning. Ohtani added to the onslaught in the third with his first homer of the night.

In the fourth inning, it was the visiting stars’ turn at bat, and Mexico’s Kirk hit a 120-foot single that brought him home alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

Marathon to midnight

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow allowed another home run by Addison Barger after a hit by Venezuelan Andrés Giménez.

Glasnow was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, and Toronto also benched Max Scherzer, who at 41 became the first pitcher to appear in the World Series with four different teams.

Ohtani hit a double and scored to tie the game, but the Blue Jays regained the lead thanks to strong defensive plays and a strikeout of Guerrero Jr.

Ohtani, Toronto's nightmare

The celebration was short-lived for the Canadians as Ohtani came up again and lit up the stands with his second home run of the night.

Ohtani tied the Dodgers’ record of eight playoff home runs, previously set by Corey Seager in 2020.

The game went into endless extra innings, with missed opportunities by both teams and the Dodgers using their way through to their tenth pitcher, Will Klein.

Matching the record of 18 innings, the Dodgers sent Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who had pitched a complete game just two days earlier — to warm up. He did not have to take the mound thanks to Freeman’s clutch home run that ended the marathon.