You would’ve thought the Boston Red Sox were in a must-win situation.
They put everything they had into one of the greatest games - really, two games - in World Series history.
Now, even though Boston is still ahead, it feels like the Los Angeles Dodgers have all the momentum.
In an epic marathon that lasted a staggering 7 hours and 20 minutes, stretching from Friday night well into Saturday morning, the Red Sox put all their cards on the table and still came away with a losing hand.
Max Muncy led off the bottom of the 18th with a walk-off homer, finally finishing off the longest game - in both time and innings - in World Series history. The Dodgers emerged with a 3-2 victory , cutting their deficit in the series to a now-manageable two games to one.
Sure, it was only one victory.
It felt like so much more.
The Red Sox staggered off the field with their pitching staff in shambles, namely because they tried to get seven innings - SEVEN! - from Nathan Eovaldi out of the bullpen.
Who will start Game 4?
Who knows?
It could be Chris Sale, who got the nod in the series opener and may have to come back on three days’ rest. It could be reliever Drew Pomeranz, the only other Boston pitcher who didn’t get in Game 3. It could be Eduardo Rodriguez, who pitched to only one batter.
Rookie manager Alex Cora played every inning like it was the last.
He doubled-switched. He played guys at positions they’d never played before. He lifted slugger J.D. Martinez for a pinch-runner in the 10th, depriving his lineup of a big bat in a game that, it turned out, still had so much longer to go.
Cora’s win-at-all-cost philosophy may come back to haunt him if this series slips away.
“The game will dictate the way we move our pieces and our players,” he said afterward, expressing no regrets. “We knew we had to win tonight. It was a great game.”
The Dodgers clearly came out of the game in much better shape.
Rich Hill is all ready to start Game 4, though the Dodgers tweeted after the game that their probable starter is to be determined, perhaps meaning Game 1 starter Clayton Kershaw will get the nod. The bullpen is actually not too burned out, even though closer Kenley Jansen and Pedro Baez will likely be unavailable Saturday night after working two innings apiece.
“It wasn’t how we scripted it,” manager Dave Roberts said, “but it’s a big win for us.”
Cora’s first significant move was lifting starter Rick Porcello in the fifth inning, even though he had only given up three hits and a run. It hardly seemed necessary to make such an early call to the bullpen - two outs, a runner at first base - but Cora gave what has become an all-too-familiar mantra for analytic-obsessed skippers.
“We felt that was a bad matchup for us,” he said.
Rodriguez struck out the lone batter he faced, providing some immediate gratification. But that move opened up a parade of pitchers - even Game 2 starter David Price made a relief appearance - that finally culminated in the 12th with Eovaldi trotting in from the bullpen.
The right-hander, acquired from Tampa Bay during the season and a free-agent-to-be coming off two Tommy John surgeries, was expected to start Game 4 after pitching in relief the first two games.
Cora decided to go for a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, figuring if his team pulled it off it wouldn’t really matter who pitched the next game.
Besides Sale, who wasn’t going to pitch under any circumstances, Pomeranz was the only other available hurler. But he had a miserable season and was left off the roster for the first two rounds of the postseason. He had not pitched in a game since Sept. 30. Bringing him in would’ve been like throwing in the towel.
So Cora went with Eovaldi.
It almost worked, too.
The Red Sox pulled ahead 2-1 in the top of the 13th when Eduardo Nunez’s little dribbler for an infield single led to a throwing error that allowed the tie-breaking run to score.
Boston was one out away from wrapping up the victory in the bottom half, only to get bitten by basically the same play. Second baseman Ian Kinsler stumbled a bit scooping up Yasiel Puig’s grounder up the middle, rushed an off-balance throw and watched it sail past the first baseman, allowing Muncy to race home with the tying run.
On it went.
Through the 14th, the 15th, the 16th, the 17th.
Finally, Eovaldi ran out of gas, serving up a pitch that Muncy launched into the left-field seats to suddenly end a game that seemed destined to last forever.
“It’s not crushing at all,” Cora insisted. “I told them how proud I am. It was a great baseball game. There’s probably people back home waking up to the end of it. It’s one of the best, if not the best game, I’ve ever been part of.”
No argument there.
And his team is still ahead in the series.
But it sure doesn’t feel like it.
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Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry@ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paul%20newberry
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