Game 3 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers is in the books, and will go down in history as one of the longest post-season games ever played. But the records don’t stop there. There were several moments of baseball lore made over the course of the 18-inning matchup that lasted nearly seven hours. Here are some of the highlights: Six hours, 39 minutes Game 3’s 18-inning marathon is tied for the longest-ever World Series game—or any post-season game for that matter—by number of innings played. From first pitch to Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run, the game lasted six hours and 39 minutes. The only other time a World Series game has gone to 18 innings was Game 3 in 2018, when the Dodgers played the Boston Red Sox for seven hours and 20 minutes. ‘Shotime’ shows out Shohei Ohtani, who will get the ball for the Dodgers in Game 4, set a post-season record Monday night reaching base nine times. During his first four plate appearances, Ohtani had four extra-base hits, including two home runs, tying the most extra-base hits in a World Series game—a record set by Frank Isbell in 1906, according to the MLB. He is the first player ever with three multi-home run games in a single post season. Of the two-way player’s nine trips to the plate, he reached base five times — four of them on intentional walks, making him the first player in post-season history to be given the four-finger salute that many times in a single game. Toronto sets at-bat record Although Toronto’s offence struggled to produce beyond the seventh inning in the 6-5 loss Monday night, their batters stepped on the dish a record number of times. According to the MLB, no other team in World Series history has ever produced 67 at-bats. As well, every single position player on the Jays roster had a bat in their hands at one point in Game 3. However, the Blue Jays also set a record for the most runners stranded on bases at 19. The Dodgers left 18 of their own runners on. The 37 combined runners left stranded was the most in post-season history. Pitchers galore Game 3 started with Max Scherzer throwing for the Blue Jays and Tyler Glasnow for the Dodgers, neither of whom made it out of the fifth inning. It ended with nine pitchers coming out of Toronto’s bullpen and 10 from LA’s. The 19 pitchers used in the 18-inning endurance test was the most in post-season history, according to the MLB. Those arms threw 609 pitches, which the league says is 48 more than any other post-season game since the turn of the millennium. Future hall of famer Clayton Kershaw even took the mound for the Dodgers at one point in the 12th, getting a key out with the bases loaded. Kershaw has said he plans to retire at the end of the season. Freeman joins elite club Freeman ended the game with a walk-off solo home run to put the Dodgers up 2-1 in the series. The Canadian-American slugger also hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees last year, before LA would go on to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. He now joins an elite club of hitters who have two post-season walk-off home runs, including David Ortiz, Carlos Correa and Bernie Williams. However, Freeman is the only one with two walk offs in the World Series. The Brad Paisley effect Country singer Brad Paisley sang the American national anthem before Game 3, nearly seven hours before Freeman walked it off for the Dodgers. MLB writer Anthony Castrovince noted that Paisley has made a habit out of singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” before long World Series games: he sang at Game 1 in 2022, which stretched 10 innings, Game 2 in 2017, 11 innings, and the previously mentioned 2018 Game 3. Historical Game 3 data What does the data tell us about who wins Game 3? According to the MLB, when any best-of-seven post-season series is tied at one game apiece, which ever team wins Game 3 goes on to win the series 69.3 per cent of the time. “In series with the current 2-3-2 format that have been tied 1-1, teams winning Game 3 at home have gone on to also win the series 29 of 48 times (60.4%),” Castrovince wrote.
