Dodgers beat Blue Jays 6-5 in marathon World Series Game 3 that’s an instant classic

This game will be remembered for a long, long time. Even longer than it took to play.In an instant classic at the baseball mecca of Dodger Stadium that began underneath the California sunshine and felt like it ended near dawn, the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays with a 6-5, 18-inning marathon victory in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday.Freddie Freeman, a dual citizen who represents Canada internationally, hit the walk-off home run to end it.The Dodgers now lead the series 2-1 after a game that took six hours, 39 minutes to complete and featured twists and turns at nearly every stop.“Everybody probably across the world watching felt like they were on a roller-coaster,” Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer said after the game. “Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy game.”Tied for the longest contest by innings in World Series history, it was the type of game that makes you wonder how they’ll come back and do all this — well, maybe not all this — again tomorrow.It was the type of game that drains you, yes you, just sitting on your couch. We can only imagine what the players are feeling.It was the type of game that you talk about forever.Especially if you’re a Dodger. Jays must move on quicklyThe Blue Jays, on the other hand, will have to eat this loss and move on rather quickly. Game 4 is set to start less than 18 hours after Freeman’s homer cleared the centre-field fence.Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after the game that his players were enjoying it. “They were in the right mindset and the right headspace the entire time. It sucks that it’s late right now, we gotta come back and do it again tomorrow, but these guys are going to be more than ready,” Schneider said.“The Dodgers didn’t win the World Series today. They won a game.”By the time Freeman ended things, sending a moonshot through the marine layer that had previously kept some other Dodgers’ close calls in the park, Brendon Little was pitching for the Blue Jays.Had this been July, that might’ve meant Toronto was in tip-top shape. But this is October, and Little has struggled badly for months, culminating in a disastrous Game 5 outing in the ALCS. He hadn’t pitched since, and he was the last man out of the Blue Jays’ bullpen on this night.The lefty with a penchant for spiking curveballs had entered one inning earlier in the 17th, when he escaped a two-on, two-out jam.But he couldn’t walk the tightrope twice, and Freeman sent a middle-middle fastball out to dead centre field.“Obviously, he’s a great hitter. But gotta make pitches,” Little said.Ohtani steals 1st half of the showIn the first half of this game — regulation, if you will — two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani stole the show. His first four at-bats? Double, home run, double, home run. The latter shot — a game-tying blast in the seventh inning — was enough to convince Blue Jays manager John Schneider that Ohtani should never swing again.Ohtani after hitting another solo home run during Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. (Ben Nelms/CBC)His next five — yes, five — plate appearances: four intentional walks, and one unintentional free pass.“He had a great game, he’s a great player,” said Schneider. But after that seventh-inning home run, “You just gotta take the bat out of his hands.” The Jays manager said to expect more of the same strategy going forward.Ohtani will take the mound as the starter for Game 4, looking to put Los Angeles within one win of its second straight title.A grind awaits him, though really, it awaits everyone who participated in this one-of-a-kind ball game. But that’s a story for daylight Tuesday. We still need to unpack what happened prior to sunrise.And there was a lot.Ohtani is tagged out by Kiner-Falefa after trying to steal second in the ninth inning. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Base-running blunders and legendary hurlersTeoscar Hernandez was thrown out at third base; so was Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Ohtani was caught trying to steal second in the ninth; Davis Schneider was mowed down trying to score from first in the 10th.Two legendary pitchers with six Cy Young awards between them each appeared in this game. Scherzer went 4.2 innings to start the game for the Blue Jays, allowing three runs on five hits; Clayton Kershaw earned perhaps the biggest out of the game for the Dodgers in the 12th, with the bases loaded and two down.Another Cy Young winner, Shane Bieber, was loosening up in the Jays’ bullpen and might have entered the game had it reached a record 19th inning. Instead, he will start as scheduled in Game 4.And yet, despite all the big names, it was an unlikely hero who stepped up. Reliever Will Klein, who had not been on the post-season roster until this World Series, went four shutout innings against the Blue Jays with no one behind him.In the 14th, Blue Jays fans breathed two sighs of relief when Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith smoked a ball to the warning track and Max Muncy rocketed one just outside the right-field foul pole.In the 13th, after a pair of intentional walks, Freddie Freeman blasted a ball to the warning track, only for the marine layer to track that one down.Springer is walked off the diamond in the seventh inning of Game 3. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Toronto’s big bats quiet or absentMeanwhile, the Blue Jays — the best offence in MLB this post-season, and the fourth-best in the regular season — failed to score over the final 11 innings, and rarely even threatened after a series of moves and an injury left the Blue Jays with a weakened lineup. George Springer, one of the best hitters in baseball all year, exited the game after an awkward swing in the seventh. Schneider called it “right side discomfort,” and the team is awaiting MRI results.After struggling to run the bases, Bo Bichette was replaced in the seventh. Game 1 hero Addison Barger was removed for pinch runner Myles Straw in the eighth. Alejandro Kirk, who gave the Blue Jays a fourth-inning lead with a three-run home run, was lifted in the 12th.Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk celebrates after his three-run homer brought Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in to score in the fourth inning of Game 3 Monday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Their replacements struggled mightily at the plate.In retrospect, it was only a matter of time before somebody won it for the Dodgers, with the Blue Jays offence looking so anemic.Then again, after 18 innings full of everything from momentum-shifting home runs to base-running blunders to fruit plates in the dugout, who could blame them? All told, Game 3 was an instant classic. And in the end, the Dodgers walked off in ecstasy, while the Blue Jays limped away in agony. Another game awaits.