On Oct. 26, 2018, the Dodgers and Red Sox opened Game 3 of the World Series and ended up making history in the process.
Los Angeles was already chasing the series after falling behind 2-0, but Joc Pederson gave the Dodgers an early lift with a solo home run in the second inning. Boston answered much later, when Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with a solo shot in the eighth, and from there the game turned into a survival test.
The Red Sox grabbed the lead in the 13th after a leadoff walk and a throwing error on an infield single by Eduardo Núñez. At that point, the Dodgers were staring at a 3-0 series hole. Boston, though, still had a rough inning coming their way.
Yasiel Puig’s infield single pulled the Dodgers even, and Max Muncy nearly ended it in the 15th when he sent a ball just foul on a drive that hooked a few feet outside the pole. Nathan Eovaldi finished that at-bat with a strikeout.
Three innings later, Muncy got another chance and didn’t waste it. He caught just enough of a fastball to send it over the fence in left-center for the walk-off homer.
It was the finish to the longest game in World Series history, measured by both time and innings. The game lasted 7 hours, 20 minutes and went 18 innings, stretching from Oct. 26 at Dodger Stadium into the early morning hours of Oct. 27.
The home run was only the second walk-off in Dodgers World Series history, joining Kirk Gibson’s blast in Game 1 in 1988. Freddie Freeman later became part of that same group with his walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 25, 2024.
After the game, Muncy talked about what it felt like to come through in that moment.
“He had really good stuff all night long and he wasn’t missing a spot,” Muncy said of facing Eovaldi. “Next at-bat he tried to go backdoor cutter again, but he left this one a little over the plate. And thankfully for me he did that, because I was able to get my bat to it.
“It’s been a dream. This whole year has been a surreal experience that it’s hard to put into words,” he said. “But just getting a chance to play in the World Series has kind of capped it off.
“And then getting a chance to hit a walk-off home run, obviously there’s not many words I can use to describe that. The feeling was just pure joy and incredible excitement. That’s about all I can think of because it’s hard to describe how good a feeling it is.”
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