South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Marathon man Muncy gives Dodgers new life
LOS ANGELES — Exhausted yet exhilarated, the Dodgers finally ended the longest World Series game in history early Saturday when Max Muncy’s home run leading off the bottom of the 18th inning gave them a 3-2 victory that cut the Red Sox’s edge to 2-1 in the best-of-seven matchup.
Muncy homered to leftcenter on a full-count pitch from Nathan Eovaldi, ending a game that lasted 7 hours, 20 minutes.
“The feeling was just pure joy and incredible excitement,” Muncy said.
The Red Sox were oh, so close in the 13th to taking a commanding 3-0 Series lead. But second baseman Ian Kinsler’s wide throw on a two-out grounder by Yasiel Puig let the Dodgers score the tying run.
“Had the last out in my glove and couldn’t get it over there,” Kinsler said. “It’s tough to swallow. I feel like I let the team down right there.”
After Jackie Bradley Jr.’s eighth-inning home run negated Joc Pederson’s third-inning shot for the Dodgers, both teams scored on errors in the 13th.
“We had some situations that we could have put them away and then we didn’t,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “At the end we paid the price.”
Muncy came very close to ending it in the bottom of the 15th. But his shot to right sailed just foul, and he ended up striking out.
“I really thought I had it,” Muncy said.
“That was kind of defeating at that point, but I was able to get another shot.”
The battle of attrition had a bit of everything: 46 players, including 18 pitchers, and 561 pitches. Never had a Series game gone more than 14 innings.
Two games in one, really. And a fall classic, indeed.
“It was a must-win for us. Our guys just persevered,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
How long did they play? Put it this way: The game took 15 minutes more than the entire 1939 World Series when the Yankees swept Cincinnati, STATS said.
Long after rookie Walker Buehler dazzled over seven shutout innings for the Dodgers, things got interesting.
The Red Sox tied it 1-all in the eighth on a homer by Jackie Bradley Jr. and took a 2-1 lead in the 13th.
Los Angeles answered with the tying run in the bottom of the inning.
After Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger made the throw of his life in the 10th, both teams scored on bizarre errors in the 13th.
Cora used starter David Price in relief, rotated his outfielders in the middle of innings and even put catcher Christian Vazquez at first base for the first time in his big league career.
Out of position players, Roberts called on ace Clayton Kershaw to pinch-hit in the 17th. He flied out.
The crowd cheered when the stadium clock struck midnight.
“What a ballgame. What a marathon,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. “Unbelievable fight from our club.”
Game 4 was Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. Eovaldi had been scheduled to start for the Red Sox, but he threw 97 pitches over six-plus innings in relief. So Eduardo Rodriguez started Game 4 against the Dodgers’ Rich Hill.