Freeman plays hero as Dodgers trip Jays 6-5 in 18-inning World Series thriller

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The Los Angeles Dodgers made the most of some overtime work on Monday night.

Freddie Freeman homered off reliever Brendon Little in the bottom of the 18th inning, lifting the Dodgers to a thrilling 6-5 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium in L.A. The Dodgers now lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, with Game 4 set for Tuesday (4 p.m.).

Shohei Ohtani went 4-for-4 with two homers, five walks and three RBI to lead the Dodger attack. Teoscar Hernandez had four hits and a homer for the winners. Will Klein got the pitching win, tossing four scoreless innings and striking out five. L.A. starter Tyler Glasnow lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits, whiffing five.

Alejandro Kirk homered and drove in three runs for Toronto, with Dalton Varsho, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger also adding two hits apiece. Jays starter Max Scherzer went 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs, striking out three. Little took the loss.

The Dodgers opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, when Hernandez hit a deep homer to left field off a Scherzer breaking ball.

In the third, Ohtani ripped a 389-foot homer to up the L.A. lead to 2-0. Toronto’s Barger prevented a third Dodger run when he threw out Freeman at the plate to end the inning.

The Blue Jays answered back in their half of the fourth inning. Kirk’s 394-foot, three-run homer scored Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette to put the Jays up 3-2. Andres Gimenez plated Barger on a sacrifice fly to boost Toronto’s lead to 4-2.

L.A. tied it at 4-4 in their half of the fifth. Scherzer gave up a single to Enrique Hernandez, then got Andy Pages to fly out. Scherzer was relieved by Mason Fluharty, who gave up a double to Ohtani and Hernandez scored. Freeman later knocked in Ohtani from second with a single.

In the seventh, the Jays took back the lead, but lost leadoff hitter George Springer.

Facing pitcher Justin Wrobleski, Springer took a hard swing at the first pitch, then removed himself from the game after clutching his right side. He was replaced by Ty France, who struck out.

Blake Treinen came in to pitch for L.A. and gave a single to Guerrero who was then knocked in by Bichette to give Toronto a 5-4 lead.

It didn’t last long, as Ohtani powered a 401-foot homer off Seranthony Dominguez to tie it at 5-5. Ohtani became just the second man to have four extra-base hits in a World Series game and the first since Frank Isbell did it in 1906.

The Jays threatened in the top of the eighth, but with Roki Sasaki pitching, stranded runners at second and third.

In the ninth, with one out and nobody on, the Jays intentionally walked Ohtani and he was thrown out at second by Kirk.

In the top of 10th, with Davis Schneider running at first, Nathan Lukes doubled. Schneider tried to score but was thrown out by Teoscar Hernandez.

In the bottom of the 11th with two outs and Braydon Fisher on the mound for the Jays, Ohtani was again intentionally walked. Mookie Betts followed with a base hit but Fisher got Freeman to fly out to left.

The Jays loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the 12th and the Dodgers brought in Clayton Kershaw to face Lukes. The future Hall of Famer, with a full count, got Lukes to ground out weekly to second to end the threat.

Tommy Edman doubled off Jays reliever Eric Lauer in the bottom of the 13th. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Miguel Rojas. Pinch-hitter Alex Call popped out and Ohtani was intentionally walked for a third-straight time and Betts was also given an intentional pass so the lefthanded Lauer could face Freeman. Lauer got Freeman to fly out to centre to end the inning.

The Dodgers put two runners on in the bottom of the 14th, but Lauer worked out of another jam.

Ohtani was intentionally walked for a fourth time with one out in the bottom of the 15th but Lauer again held the Dodgers down. He tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before being replaced by Little.

In the bottom of the 17th, Call singled with two outs for the Dodgers, bringing up Ohtani. The Jays opted to let Little pitch to him but he still walked the Dodgers slugger on four pitches. Little induced a Betts popup to end the inning.

The Jays put two more baserunners on in the top of the 18th, but were unable to cash in, setting the stage for Freeman’s heroics.

NOTES: Ohtani is slated to start on the mound for the Dodgers in Game 4 Tuesday (4 p.m.), while Shane Bieber goes for the Jays… It was the first World Series game to reach at least the 12th inning since 2018… Ohtani became the first player to ever reach base nine times in a playoff game.