Blue Jays-Dodgers World Series Game 3: Longest Game in Blue Jays History Ends in Heartbreak

[Mike LeSage]

Like the classic SNL Weekend Update appearances from Ball Hader’s Stefon, this game had everything. Seven batters were thrown out on the bases, and almost every pitcher in the building was called on. Sandy Koufax was in attendance, and once the Dodgers ‘pen was empty, there had to be a chance that MLB would be petitioned to let him play.

In the 17th inning, the Sportsnet broadcast reported that Dave Roberts was intending to put a position player on the mound if the game reached 18. It didn’t happen, but a total of 19 pitchers appeared in the game and combined to throw over 600 pitches.

There were chances for Toronto before the game reached extra innings. The Jays went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base before the extra frames – six in the last three innings. They left two runners on in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth. The chances were there in extras too. Davis Schneider, who was in to pinch run for Ty France, who himself had been brought in to pinch-hit for George Springer, was thrown out at the plate in the top of the 10th inning. The 12th inning saw Toronto load the bases but unable to bring anyone across the plate. In the 13th, it was Los Angeles loading the bases behind two intentional walks and not being able to end the game. The Dodgers had two on in the 10th and 11th innings as well. There were chances.

Let’s look at some of the plays and players that made a mark on the almost seven-hour game.

Max Scherzer: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Mad Max came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Shohei Ohtani led the game off with a double and was then stranded on second base as Mookie Betts flew out to a hard-charging Addison Barger. Freddie Freeman popped out. Will Smith went down on strikes. Scherzer’s fastball was amped up, topping out at 96.4 mph – the hardest pitch he's thrown in over four years! A hung slider in the second inning was put into the stands by former Jay Teoscar Hernández (-11% WPA), but Scherzer responded by getting swinging strikeouts of Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández to end the inning.

In the third, the damage was limited to an Ohtani solo homer (-10.2% WPA) thanks to an inning-ending play at the plate. The fourth was a cruise, three-up, three-down, and it became a question of how far Scherzer would go. Tyler Glasnow was lifted in the top of the fifth. Scherzer matched that effort and exited the game before facing Ohtani a third time. In the head-to-head matchup, Scherzer also induced more swings and misses (13 to 10) than his counterpart. Scherzer is lined up to pitch a potential Game 7 if the series goes that far, but if this was his last start as a Blue Jay, I’d say we got our money’s worth.

Eric Lauer: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB (2 IBB), 2 K
Lauer pitched one inning and finished Game 1 of the series. In Game 3, he was called on for much more. Coming into the game in the bottom of the 12th inning, with six pitchers between him and Scherzer, Lauer would record more outs than anyone. He used every part of the park too. Freeman (twice) and Smith both had deep flyouts to the warning track. Max Muncy hit one about 400 feet foul in the 14th inning. Teoscar sent one to the wall in the 16th. Like he had done all season, Lauer, thrown into an unexpected position, delivered.

Alejandro Kirk: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
Kirk came through with the biggest hit of the game by win probability added, prior to extra innings. With two runners on base, he came to the plate and was looking for a first-pitch breaking ball. He got it, thanks to a Glasnow curveball right over the heart of the plate. Kirk sent it 394 feet away and cleared the outfield wall for a three-run home run (+25.9 WPA). That homer gave Kirk the most home runs by a catcher in a postseason with five, tying Cal Raleigh this year and Sandy Alomar Jr.’s 1997. It also moved Kirk into second place for Blue Jays franchise home runs in a postseason – a mark that also stood as the old record until Vladdy hit his sixth in the ALCS this year. Kirk worked a walk in the 12th inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Heineman.

Bo Bichette: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Bichette led off the second inning with the Jays' first hit of the game. Daulton Varsho then appeared to take ball four and started towards first base. Bichette took a couple of steps towards second before home plate umpire Mark Wegner called the pitch a strike. Bichette was then stuck in no-man's land, and the Dodgers picked him off. What is the opposite of heads-up baserunning? Wegner unquestionably had the call wrong, but you can’t take those kinds of things for granted. Bichette would reach base again in the fourth inning on an error by Edman (+10.4% WPA) and come around to score. He would also drive in Guerrero before being lifted for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Addison Barger: 2-for-4, 1 R
With the game 2-0 Dodgers and Freeman standing on second (after a borderline safe call on a steal), Smith hit a single to the cannon-armed right fielder. Freeman tried to challenge, but Barger unleashed a 98.5 mph throw (which, to that point in the game, would have registered as the fastest pitch thrown) perfectly to Kirk, who had all kinds of time to set and make the tag on Freeman to end the threat and the inning. After a single in the fourth, Barger went first-to-third on a shallow single by Ernie Clement and then sprinted home on a sac fly from Andrés Giménez. Barger was replaced with Myles Straw as a pinch runner in the eighth inning – a decision. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 2-for-7, 2 R
It was a quiet night at the plate overall for Vladdy, but in the sixth inning, with Teoscar Hernández at first base, Kiké Hernández hit a grounder that was headed for left field. Giménez got to it and made a leaping throw to first. With his momentum carrying him away, the throw was offline. Guerrero stepped up on the ball and came up immediately, throwing to third to catch Teoscar trying to take an extra base. Guerrero’s throw was clocked at 87.6 mph and marked the second inning-ending assist to catch a lead runner of the game.

In the seventh inning, Guerrero would reach on a single (on a ball that was WAY off the plate) and then go first-to-home on a Bichette single to right field (+21.3% WPA). In a nice form of fair play, Guerrero gave Teoscar Hernández the chance to throw him out at the plate, but the throw was wide and Vladdy got in just ahead of the tag.

Shohei Ohtani: 4-for-4, 2 HR, 5 BB
We’ve gotta give Shohei his own spot in this recap. In classic Tungsten Arm O’Doyle fashion, he did something that hasn’t been done in a World Series since 1906. His four extra base hits tie Frank Isbell (four doubles), who accomplished the feat 10 days before the first officially recorded powered flight in Europe. According to Sarah Langs, Ohtani is also the first player since Babe Ruth to have multiple 12+ total base games in a single postseason. His only blemish was being caught stealing (+9.9% WPA) after an intentional walk (finally!) in the ninth inning. He also became the only player in World Series history to reach base seven eight nine times (Kenny Lofton and Stan Hack both did it six times, which by the 17th inning seemed pretty pedestrian). No one had ever been intentionally walked four times before either.

Game 4 is set to start about 16 hours after the end of Game 3. I’d bet a lot of players and personnel in the stadium are wishing there were a hotel attached, like in Toronto. Ohtani is the projected starter for the Dodgers, and he just played through an 18-inning contest. Shane Bieber, despite moving down to the Blue Jays bullpen, was not brought into the game, so he should be relatively fresh. Will the Jays have an advantage with players like Bichette, Barger and Kirk having been lifted early? What is Springer's status? All questions that will be answered in short order. So, get a quick nap in, Game 4 is coming!

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