Machado Again Not Showing His Best Side

Failure To Hustle Costly In Game 3

LOS ANGELES — Manny Machado's lack of hustle is starting to stand out more than his offense this postseason.

The star shortstop had a little too much self-confidence in the sixth inning Friday night when he thought he homered for the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 3 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Instead, Machado ended up admiring what turned out to be a 368-foot single as it bounced off the wall in left field.

Had Machado run it out, it might have been a double. It also turned out to be his only hit as he went 1 for 7 in the Dodgers' 3-2 win in 18 innings early Saturday that trimmed their Series deficit to 2-1.

“I looked up at first and thought it wasn't going and then I saw it take up and thought it was going to go out,” Machado said. “That was very, very, very, very, very poor baserunning by me.”

It is not the first time this postseason that Machado's effort level has become an issue. He was criticized for not hustling during a groundout in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series against Milwaukee.

Machado said in an interview on FS1 during the NLCS that he's well aware he's not going to be known as a hustling type of player, but that is how he has played throughout his career.

Eovaldi doing it all: Nathan Eovaldi seemed to have a rubber arm. Maybe that second Tommy John surgery turned him into a bionic pitcher.

Until the 97th pitch of an outing that was among the most unusual in World Series history, until the 561st pitch of an epic endurance test that sprawled across the night for 18 innings, he finally got beat.

Eovaldi allowed Max Muncy's opposite-field homer to left-center on a cutter that hung over the high, outside corner, ending the longest World Series game ever after 7 hours, 20 minutes.

“After the game was over I started crying,” Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. “He literally gave everything he had on every single pitch.”

Before this week, Eovaldi had never pitched on consecutive days in his major league career.

Now the 28-year-old right-hander was sent to the mound by manager Alex Cora for the third time in four days. In the World Series. Throwing 98 mph in his seventh inning of relief.

Fastballs and cutters. Occasional sliders and splits. Inning after inning .

“I felt good the whole time. I told AC, I'`m good. I want to stay in,“' Eovaldi said in front of the first base dugout after it was over.

He gave a performance for the ages — especially in an era when managers have turned starters and relievers alike into one-batter wonders. It was a throwback to the days when Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale took the Dodger Stadium mound and expected to finish what they started.

After pitching the eighth inning to preserve leads in the first two games of the Series, Eovaldi was the scheduled Game 4 starter. Instead he became Boston's record-tying ninth pitcher when he entered to start the 12th inning.

Eovaldi threw four more pitches than any member of Boston's staff had in an outing this postseason. Cora planned to have Drew Pomeranz hit for Eovaldi in the 19th and take the mound in the bottom half.

Nunez all over: This was a true fall classic for Eduardo Nunez. The Boston third baseman became a one-man blooper reel when he flipped, tripped, tumbled and sprawled Friday night.

“He was all over the place, huh?” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

All that, and he didn't even enter until the 10th inning.

His follies began in the Boston 13th when, with Nunez batting, Brock Holt took off from first on a pitch that bounced. Catcher Austin Barnes scrambled to retrieve the ball in the batter's box, burrowed into Nunez's legs and spun him hard onto his back .

He steadied himself and hit a tapper that reliever Scott Alexander fielded on the right side. Nunez made a dive into first base and jarred himself as Alexander's throw went wild, scoring Holt with the go-ahead run .

In the bottom half, Max Muncy was on first with one out when Cody Bellinger hit a foul popup near the third-base seats. The overshifted Nunez went a long way to make the catch, but backed into the low wall and flipped into the stands .