HOUR OF POWER

Freeman's encore hits another high note

- BILL PLASCHKE

Photographs by ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times "I THINK we're all emotionally and mentally drained," said Freddie Freeman, right, doused by teammates for his walk-off homer in a record-tying 18-inning Game 3.

Freddie, meet Freddie. It was excruciating. It was exhausting. It was ecstatic.

It was Freddie, Freddie, Freddie, forever.

Repeating history, rocking the Ravine, winning the unwinnable, Freddie Freeman has done it again for the Dodgers, knocking a baseball for a second consecutive October into probably a second consecutive championship.

In the 18th inning of the longest World Series game in baseball history Monday, nearly seven hours after it started, Freeman smashingly ended it with a leadoff home run against the Toronto Blue Jays to give the Dodgers a 6-5 victory and a two-games-to-one lead.

This time last year he was hitting an extra-inning, walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees that propelled the Dodgers to the title. At the time, he was being compared to Kirk Gibson and his memorable 1988 World Series homer.

This time, he can only be compared to himself, a guy who was struggling so much in the postseason that both Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts had been intentionally walked in front of him late in the game.

Three times in extra innings, he could have ended the game with a hit. Three times he left runners stranded.