Some adventurous baserunning, lots of inept batting, spectacular relief pitching and maybe an umpire’s miss-call contributed to the Dodgers’ 18-inning Game 3 World Series victory
Friday night’s epic 18-inning 3-2 Dodger victory in Game 3 of the World Series would have provided plenty of fodder for patrons of the bars back In Boston…if only the bars had been able to stay open late enough to watch the whole thing.
The seven-hour, 21-minute contest – the longest World Series game in history in both innings and time – didn’t end until 3:30 a.m. Saturday on the East Coast, giving committed but bleary-eyed followers of the losers little chance to sleep off the defeat.
The outcome is also likely to touch off a storm of speculation regarding the game’s impact on Boston’s roster. True, the Red Sox still lead the Series 2 games to 1. But reliever (and potential Game 4 starter) Nathan Eovaldi pitched more than six innings, throwing nearly 100 pitches and possibly costing the Sox his services not only for Game 4 but Games 5 and 6, if necessary.
Of course, the winners are not immune to impact. Their two best relief aces, closer Kenley Jansen and Pedro Baez, worked two full innings, as did Kenta Maeda. All may need Saturday off. That could leave the Dodgers with Ryan Madson, Scott Alexander, Dylan Floro, Blake Wood, and Julio Urias as backups to prospective starter Rich Hill.
Here is a look at some of the critical decision points of the Game 3 Los Angeles victory, the moments when fate, execution, a manager’s decision or an umpire’s ruling might have made a difference.