LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ star was delivering on the field, but even he couldn’t do it alone. On Monday night, Los Angeles needed extra innings to seize the World Series edge.
Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run in the 18th inning, giving the Dodgers a 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 3 at Chavez Ravine. The marathon matchup tied the record for the longest game in World Series history, matching the 18-inning clash between the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2018.
“It’s one of the greatest World Series games of all time,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whose team now leads the series 2-1.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off home run against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Shohei Ohtani had a historic night, reaching base nine times — five via walks, including four intentional — while hitting two home runs, bringing his postseason total to eight. Ohtani also added two doubles, becoming the first player in postseason history to reach base nine times in a single game and only the third player ever to do so in any game. Remarkably, the five walks came after he was already 4-for-4.
Freeman’s game-winning homer off Brendon Little recalled his walk-off grand slam against the Yankees in Game 1 of last year’s World Series. With the hit, Freeman became the first player in history to record multiple walk-off homers in the World Series.
“It’s kind of amazing, crazy, and I am just glad we won,” Freeman said.
FREDDIE FREEMAN, OCTOBER LEGEND. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/SW3XeFihxq
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 28, 2025
The Dodgers are now just two wins away from becoming MLB’s first back-to-back champions since the Yankees’ three-peat from 1998 to 2000.
“The Dodgers didn’t win the World Series right here,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “They won a game.”
Will Klein, the Dodgers’ 10th pitcher of the night, threw four scoreless innings to secure the victory, while the Blue Jays cycled through nine pitchers. Manager Dave Roberts revealed that if the game had reached the 19th inning, he planned to call on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, just two days after the pitcher threw a complete game in Toronto.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Will Klein reacts after the 18th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium.
“It took every single guy tonight, and for Yamamoto to want to do that, it shows who we are as a group,” Freddie Freeman said.
The marathon also featured a relief appearance from Clayton Kershaw, who entered to record the final out of the 12th inning with the bases loaded. The future Hall of Famer, making his first postseason appearance of the year, induced Nathan Lukes to ground out.
The two teams combined for 31 hits and left 37 runners on base in a 6-hour, 39-minute contest.
“Somebody has got to win this game, and fortunately Freddie Freeman is on our team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Freddie Freeman (#5) of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a walk-off home run during the 18th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3.
Max Scherzer allowed two solo homers on a night where he gave up three earned runs on five hits, striking out three and walking one over 4 ¹/₃ innings.
In the second inning, Scherzer’s 2-2 slider was crushed by Teoscar Hernández for a homer to left field, giving the Blue Jays the game’s first run and marking Hernández’s fifth postseason homer with 12 RBIs. He was one of four Dodgers’ hits between him and Shohei Ohtani, who together accounted for half of the team’s 16 hits.
Ohtani responded in the third with a homer that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. The slugger, scheduled to start for the Dodgers in Game 4, was playing his first game at Dodger Stadium since his three-homer explosion against the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates a home run during Game 3 of the 2025 MLB World Series.
Alejandro Kirk’s three-run homer in the fourth gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. The inning wasn’t over, though: singles by Addison Barger and Ernie Clement, followed by Andrés Giménez’s sacrifice fly, pushed the Dodgers into a 4-2 deficit.
Max Scherzer was removed in the fifth as Ohtani approached the plate as the tying run. Enrique Hernández led off with a single, and after Scherzer retired Andy Pages, left-hander Mason Fluharty came in. Ohtani responded with an RBI double that pulled the Dodgers to 4-3, and Freeman followed with a two-out RBI single to tie the game.
The Blue Jays regained the lead when Bo Bichette’s RBI single brought in a run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scored the go-ahead run by sprinting home on a hard grounder down the first-base line that caromed off a side wall, giving Toronto a 5-4 advantage.
Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates after scoring against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh inning of Game 3 of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium.
Shohei Ohtani tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a homer to left-center.
Roki Sasaki entered in the eighth with two runners on and retired Ty France and Nathan Lukes to keep the score knotted at 5-5.
The game featured four runners thrown out on the bases, three of them in the ninth inning or later. In the top of the ninth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was thrown out at third on a line drive deflection off Freeman’s glove; Tommy Edman fielded it and fired to third for the out. In the bottom half, Ohtani was caught stealing second. In the 10th inning, Davis Schneider was thrown out at the plate to end the frame after Lukes doubled and Edman relayed Hernández’s throw from right field.
The Blue Jays played the final 11 innings without George Springer, who left the game after fouling off a pitch in the seventh and grabbing his side.
