World Series Game 3: Marathon Man

 

Once again, I gave myself a set out for a playoff game this season. I said 'if they make it go to thirteen, I'm goin' to bed'. And they did, and so I just gave up. I wasn't gonna stay up til like 2 or 3 after all of this. 

That shouldn't take away from how great the game was. This is a very evenly-matched World Series of two great defensive teams that know each other's weaknesses. It just means that sometimes there are 18-inning games. Somebody did the math and said that Brad Paisley has performed the National Anthem at four different instances of the Dodgers going to extras in the World Series. Brad, buddy, you've gotta stop picking up the phone. 

There was a lot to be impressed with in this game, like Alejandro Kirk hitting a 3-run bomb off of Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani having a 2-homer night like it's absolutely nothing, Max Scherzer once again absolutely slaughtering Dodgers hitting, and some of the most impressive defensive plays in some time. For 8 innings, every cutoff man got hit, every infield drill got accomplished, and every close play got done. After some initial sloppiness in regulation that allowed for some runs, it was really cool to see. But when the right defensive subs go in, and when people like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Myles Straw get plugged in, that's what you're trying to accomplish. Outlasting the other guys no matter what. 

The MVP of this game has been crowned, and somehow it is not Freddie Freeman, who hit the game-winning bomb after everybody got tired. No, it is Will Klein, a guy who bopped around the minors the last couple years, made it to the Dodgers as a roster sub for injuries, then got named to the World Series roster when Alex Vesia had to duck out. Quietly he's been a very underrated bullpen arm for the Dodgers, and was excellent in September appearances. Last night, he went 4 very strong innings, struck out 5 and only allowed 1 hit and 2 walks. It should be noted that Eric Lauer also had a strong 4 inning run, but he didn't get the win. Klein proves that you can be a nobody making scale and still be the hero, even on the Dodgers. And that's pretty incredible.

The Dodgers have the ultimate leg up right now. They're up 1 game, at home, with both rosters absolutely exhausted and both bullpens absolutely depleted. But they have Shohei Ohtani on the mound tonight.