Fans who stayed up for Monday’s World Series Game 3 marathon were hoping to witness chaos.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays entered extra innings tied 5-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. Both offenses went silent after the ninth, with the game staying deadlocked all the way to the 18th inning.
The Dodgers and Blue Jays both completely exhausted their respective bullpens. After the game’s starters went out, a combined 17 relief pitchers were deployed to try to close out the game.
During the top of the 17th inning, FOX announcer Tom Verducci revealed that Dave Roberts told him it was possible his team would resort to using a position player on the mound if the game continued deeper into the night.
Dave Roberts told FOX's Tom Verducci that if this game goes beyond the 17th inning, a position player will pitch.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 28, 2025
WHAT
Several fans were buzzing about the prospect of seeing a regular season side show potentially decide a World Series game.
I wanna see a position player pitch in this game so badly.
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) October 28, 2025
Must stay awake. Must watch position player pitch in World Series.
— Robby Gutierrez (@Robg1063) October 28, 2025
No way does Dave Roberts believe he will go to a position player to pitch. BUT now I want to see it.
— Apollo Dez (@ApolloDez1) October 28, 2025
Is it bad that I kinda want to see a position player pitch in this game?
— Ryan Herrera (@ryan_a_herrera) October 28, 2025
It’s more than likely that Roberts was being facetious when he told Verducci that a position player coming in to pitch was in play. Using up a team’s entire bullpen only to lose because Kike Hernandez threw a meatball to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would be a ridiculous scene on the World Series stage. But if a game lasts long enough, there’s always a non-zero chance it happens.
Freddie Freeman made sure it wouldn’t get to that. The Dodgers slugger hit a walk-off home run to secure a 6-5 win in the bottom of the 18th.
FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF HOME RUN IN THE 18TH INNING! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/wD1xbRxDbC
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2025
Game 3 entered bizarre territory regardless. After throwing a complete game for the Dodgers in Game 2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was loosening up for potential action beyond the 18th. The Blue Jays’ projected Game 4 starter, Shane Bieber, was seen doing the same.
If the game somehow got to the point where position players as pitchers would be in play, the Dodgers had a pretty good one ready to throw some strikes.
