Muncy hits walkoff home run, Dodgers outlast Red Sox 3-2 in 18-inning marathon

Max Muncy hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 18th inning to end the longest postseason game in major league history, powering the Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Red Sox in a World Series marathon. The game took seven hours, 20 minutes to complete, as the Dodgers cut the Red Sox’ World Series lead to 2-1.

Game 4 takes place later on Saturday with Boston’s starting pitcher unknown. The previously named Game 4 starter, Nathan Eovaldi, pitched six innings and threw 97 pitches in relief after coming in for the 12th inning, taking the tough-luck loss on the walkoff to Muncy.

Recap

After both teams scored early and often in the first two games of the series, the first run of Game 3 didn’t come until the bottom of the third inning. Left fielder Joc Pederson took a first-pitch fastball from Porcello out of Dodger Stadium to right field to put the Dodgers up 1-0.

Alex Cora lifted Porcello after 4.2 innings despite just 61 pitches for the righty, and just one run allowed on three hits with five strikeouts. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez came in and struck out the left-handed Pederson to end the threat in the fifth. The Red Sox used a total of nine pitchers in the game.

Dodgers righty Walker Buehler mowed the Red Sox down for seven shutout innings, allowing just two singles to go with seven strikeouts. He overpowered hitters with upper-90s heat and threw 108 pitches, 72 for strikes. But after seven innings of a 1-0 lead for L.A., it became a whole new ballgame in the eighth.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to bring in closer Kenley Jansen for a six-out save. The decision backfired, as Jackie Bradley Jr. took a 2-0 cutter out to right field for his third home run and 10th RBI of the postseason to make it 1-1.

David Price came in to pitch the ninth inning after Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth. Price allowed a leadoff hit to Cody Bellinger, but the Dodgers center fielder later got caught in a rundown for the second out of the inning. Craig Kimbrel came out and walked Chris Taylor before inducing a pop out by Brian Dozier to catcher Christian Vazquez to send the game to extras.

In the top of the 10th, Ian Kinsler pinch-ran for J.D. Martinez after the left fielder walked to start the inning. After nearly getting picked off with the safe call being upheld by review, Kinsler advanced to third base on a base hit by Brock Holt. But then, Eduardo Nunez popped out to Bellinger and Kinsler took off, but got thrown out easily at home to keep the game tied.

Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 10th, followed by scoreless innings for Heath Hembree and Eovaldi before the 13th. That’s when the Red Sox finally broke through. Brock Holt scored from second base on a throwing error by Dodgers reliever Scott Alexander in the 13th inning to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Eduardo Nunez scratched out the infield hit that led to the costly mistake.

But not to be outdone, in the bottom of the 13th, Yasiel Puig hit a grounder up the middle that second baseman Ian Kinsler stopped, but threw way off first base to allow the tying run to score from second.

The Red Sox threatened again in the top of the 15th. But with runners on first and second, Vazquez bunted to the left side of the infield and pitcher Kenta Maeda made the force out at third base. Maeda followed that up with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam. For the Dodgers in the 15th, Max Muncy very nearly hit a walkoff home run but hooked it foul just around the right field pole. Muncy ultimately finished the job with his 18th-inning walkoff.

Drew Pomeranz was the only reliever not used for the Red Sox. He’s a candidate to start Game 4 after Friday’s marathon, as are Rodriguez and Chris Sale.

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