Freeman's blast ends exhausting marathon

[Dodgers, from D1]

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CLAYTON KERSHAW inherited bases loaded in the 12th inning but got out of it on a groundout.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers to a 6-5 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

But unlike last year, when Freeman hit his iconic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series, Monday night's swing brought more relief than exaltation.

As Freeman said himself afterward, there were bigger heroes behind this grueling Dodgers win.

"It took every single guy tonight," Freeman said. "I think that just shows you who we are as a group."

Between the two teams, the game featured 19 pitchers, 24 position players, 609 pitches thrown and 153 trips to the plate.

There were sudden shifts and crazy bounces, such as when a down-the-line single from Bo Bichette in the seventh ricocheted off a sound technician along the elbow of the wall in foul territory to help the Blue Jays score a go-ahead run.

There were big swings and even bigger statlines, none more so than what Shohei Ohtani produced in a record-setting four-for-four, five-walk, five-RBI display, which featured two home runs, including a solo blast in the seventh to tie the score 5-5, four extra-base hits (tying a World Series record) and four consecutive intentional walks in extra innings when the Blue Jays simply decided they wouldn't let him beat them.

There were game-saving defensive plays, most notably when a Dodgers defense that had committed two errors earlier in the night cut down a runner at home plate in the top of the 10th, after two perfectly executed throws from Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman.