Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 5 – World Series Game 3: Freddie Freeman walks it off in the 18th, as Shohei Ohtani goes God Mode & Will Klein goes 72 scoreless pitches

Chad Moriyama 10/28/2025 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

How do I even begin with this game? At the beginning, I suppose.

Every game with the series tied is a pivotal one in the baseball playoffs, and so Game 3 felt like another inflection point for the World Series. And boy, the two teams treated us to a classic.

The Dodgers took the early lead on some homers, but the Blue Jays took advantage of defensive lapses to take the lead in the middle innings. The Dodgers themselves stormed back to tie things up, at which point the two teams exchanged runs while both pens were in early. However, from that point forward, the pens were absolute nails as things went deep into the night with a bunch of missed chances and defensive gems.

In the end, the 18th was the magic inning for the Dodgers again, as who else but Freddie Freeman stepped up and hit it out to center for a 6-5 walk-off victory.

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On the mound for the Blue Jays was 41-year-old Max Scherzer, who is not suffering from “dead arm” this time around, unlike in the 2021 playoffs when he was with the Dodgers.

Don’t think they all forgot.

Things started well in the 1st when Shohei Ohtani led things off with a ground-rule double down the line in right.

However, Mookie Betts popped to shallow right, Freddie Freeman popped to third, and Will Smith worked a 3-2 count but struck out on the seventh pitch to strand that early chance.

After a first-pitch out started the 2nd, Teoscar Hernandez got on the board by smoking a homer to left for a 1-0 lead.

Scherzer then got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, but after getting the first out of the 3rd, Shohei came up and ripped a fastball out to right to make it 2-0.

After another out put him on the verge, Freddie drew a walk and then (barely) stole second. However, when Will singled to right, Dino Ebel made a very questionable send and Addison Barger threw out Freddie easily at the plate to end the 3rd.

That would prove to be a pivotal moment in the game.

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Meanwhile, the Dodgers turned to Tyler Glasnow, who was excellent in his first two postseason starts.

Fans didn’t forget about George Springer and 2017, letting him hear it both in the introductions and to start the game.

Fortunately, Glasnow responded by striking him out to start, and took just eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 frame.

The 2nd was trouble immediately, as Bo Bichette singled, and things looked worse as it seemed like Daulton Varsho walked on a 3-1 count. But the umpire called a strike and Bichette had a TOOTBLAN when he assumed it was a walk to get picked off.

Terrible call, but the baserunning error itself is on the Blue Jays.

That cost them as Varsho did eventually walk and Alejandro Kirk singled to right to corner the runners with just one out. However, Glasnow got a huge strikeout of Barger and then got Ernie Clement to lineout to escape that mess with no damage.

He was able to rebound with a couple of groundouts and a strikeout in a 1-2-3 frame in the 3rd, but the 4th was just a disaster, not as bad as Game 1 but it seemed similarly costly. Glasnow started by issuing a walk to Vlad on a full count, but he then got what seemed like a double-play ball from a hobbled Bichette. Unfortunately, Tommy Edman seemingly rushed it and the ball went right under his glove for an error to corner the runners instead.

Glasnow got Varsho to flyout with nobody moving, but he threw one too many first-pitch curves, this one to Kirk, who deposited it to center for a three-run homer and a 3-2 lead.

Things didn’t get better as Barger worked a full count and then singled on the seventh pitch, and Clement followed with another one of his bloop singles to right that cornered things yet again, still with one out. Andres Gimenez then squared one up himself and got it to the track for a sac fly that made it 4-2 and also advanced Clement to second.

Glasnow did get Springer to strikeout to end the threat, but man, a huge four-run inning that could’ve easily been one or even none.

He didn’t inspire confidence in the 5th when he started with a walk, but he did rebound to get a pair of outs, and that was the end of the road for him.

Glasnow honestly deserved better, the error changed the entire tone of his start: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 5 K, 85 Pitches.

Anthony Banda entered to try and get the final out of the inning, and he did just that by getting Varsho to pop-out, closing the book on Glasnow.

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Back on the other side, Scherzer was still on the mound in the 4th, and he cruised through a worryingly clean 1-2-3 inning. Things were better in the 5th as it started with Enrique Hernandez singling and Andy Pages flying out.

With Shohei up next for the third time, John Schneider went to Mason Fluharty, but Ohtani was all over him. Working the count full and then hitting a double the opposite way to make it 4-3.

After Mookie continued to struggle with a flyout, Freddie came up and laced a single down the line in right to score Ohtani and tie things at 4-4.

Louis Varland then entered and got Will to strikeout, but the damage was done there in the 5th. He continued in the 6th, giving up a one-out single to Teoscar, and then a two-out infield single to Enrique, but Teoscar got greedy and was thrown out trying for third in another baserunning mistake.

Fuck.

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For the Dodgers, it was Justin Wrobleski in the 6th, giving up just an infield single in a scoreless inning. He continued in the 7th, where Springer looked to strain his oblique mid at-bat, and he exited the game. Ty France entered and struck out before Wrobo got a second out on a nice play by Mook.

That was the end of the road for him with Vladdy coming up, and Blake Treinen entered, though anybody else could’ve been argued for.

I might honestly go Roki against the top of their order, but I figured it would be Treinen. This is the matchup.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) October 27, 2025 at 4:21 PM

He gave up a single to Vlad, then Bichette hit a ball down the line in right for a single, but it bounced off the wall and Vlad scored from first after Teoscar’s throw was off line.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa pinch-ran for the hobbled Bichette, and a Varsho infield single put a pair on. However, Treinen got Kirk to groundout to end that potential disaster.

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Now protecting a lead, the Blue Jays turned to Seranthony Dominguez in the 7th. He got an out to start, but then who else? Shohei stepped up and rifled a ball to left-center for a no-doubt homer to tie things back up at 5-5.

Memes.

After a strikeout, Freeman and Smith both walked, but Muncy wasn’t able to take advantage. Sigh.

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Okay, after that, nobody scored for literally 10 innings in a row. Yeah, really.

For the Dodgers pen, it was Jack Dreyer starting the 8th, and Barger reached on a Mookie throwing error. Myles Straw pinch-ran for him — all of these choices will come back later — and he got a flyout but then gave up a single to Gimenez to put a pair on.

Dave Roberts then turned to Roki Sasaki, who got a groundout that advanced both runners, and then another groundout that ended the threat.

He also started the 9th, where he began with an out, but then walked Kiner-Falefa and Varsho got an infield single that deflected off Freddie’s glove, but Kiner-Falefa then got greedy and Edman made a gem of a play to get him at third.

That was huge, as Kirk followed with a walk, but a Straw groundout got him out of the 9th.

In extras, Emmet Sheehan started in the 10th, giving up a single to France, who was pinch-ran for by Davis Schneider. That proved important when Lukas ripped a two-out double to right, but Schneider was thrown out at home on a dramatic relay from Teoscar to Tommy to preserve the tie.

Sheehan rebounded in the 11th with a clean 1-2-3 frame, but the 12th was rocky.

He walked Kirk to start, which led to Tyler Heineman running for him.

Straw bunted into an out to Freddie. After Clement grounded out but advanced Heineman to second, Gimenez was intentionally walked. Schneider then got an infield single to third, which loaded the bases.

And so, Dave turned to Clayton Kershaw to get Lukes, and it went full before two foul balls that were balls. Lukes then swung at a third ball to groundout to Edman and preserve the tie.

Incredible drama.

For the 13th, it was Edgardo Henriquez, who hit Varsho with two outs but otherwise was clean and attacked the zone. He continued to do so in the 14th, cruising through a 1-2-3 frame.

At that point, Will Klein took over the game and had the appearance of his life. He had never gone more than two innings in a game before today, and he went four for a whopping 72 pitches, cementing his place in Dodger lore.

He gave up an infield single in the 15th, then got a clean 16th and 17th.

In the 18th, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto warming up in the pen, he started to gas.

With one down, he walked Vlad and barely missed a double play getting him out of the inning. He then walked Varsho, uncorked a wild pitch, and looked to be on his last legs to Heineman. On a 3-2 count, he uncorked a perfect curve and got the strikeout, securing the Dodgers chance at walking it off.

Absolute star turn.

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On the other end, Chris Bassitt entered in the 8th, cruising through a 1-2-3 frame.

Jeff Hoffman got the 9th, starting with an out, intentionally walking Ohtani, who Kirk promptly threw out at second when he came off the bag.

Betts fouled out to end that threat, and sent things to extras.

Hoffman continued in the 10th, hitting Dills with one out, giving up a two-out single to Teoscar, and then getting out of it when Edman fouled out.

That made it Braydon Fisher for the 11th, and he got the first two outs before they intentionally walked Ohtani again. Betts then singled to put a pair on, but Freddie couldn’t take advantage of that chance when he flew out.

Fisher started the 12th as well with a strikeout, but that was it for him.

Entering was Eric Lauer, who got a pair of popouts to end the 12th, as the bats continued to struggle.

The 13th started with an Edman double, and Miguel Rojas pinch-hit bunted for Enrique to advance him to third.

Alex Call then hit for Pages and got ahead 2-0, but missed a cutter and popped out to short. They walked Shohei and Mookie intentionally to load things up, and Freddie flied out to center to waste that golden chance.

Worth wondering if: 1) the bunt should’ve been been called for 2) if yes, then whether leaving Enrique in to bunt and hitting Rojas for Pages was the better option.

Regardless, Lauer got into more trouble in the 14th, as the inning started by looking like Dills had ended it.

He continued by issuing a one-out walk to Muncy and giving up a single to Teoscar, but Edman popped out and Rojas grounded out to extend the game again.

Lauer got the 15th as well, giving up only giving up an intentional walk to Ohtani with one out thanks to Varsho’s running catch, then got a clean 16th as well when Teoscar flew out to the track.

In the 17th it was Brendon Little, who gave up a two-out single to Call and then unintentionally intentionally walked Ohtani to put a pair on, but Mookie fouled out as his struggles deepened.

Little remained in for the 18th, Freddie worked the count to 3-2, and from there, a moment in Dodger history:

Unreal.

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And so, the World Series is 2-1 in favor of the Dodgers.

Same two teams, same place, same time (2:00 PM HT/5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET), and same network (FOX) as today. It’ll be Shohei Ohtani on the mound looking to replicate his NLCS start — both on the mound and at the plate — facing off against Shane Bieber.

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