Freddie Freeman’s epic walk-off solidifies Clayton Kershaw’s World Series moment

The Los Angeles Dodgers survived a marathon in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series — a game that will go down as one of the greatest in the long and storied history of baseball. Freddie Freeman's walk-off home run in the 18th inning allowed a capacity crowd at Dodger Stadium to go home happy, and Los Angeles now leads the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine.

The game is one for the history books (both literally and figuratively). And while the biggest moment of the game belonged to Freeman — though Will Klein deserves heaps of credit as well — future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw stole the show helping the Dodgers get out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 12th inning.

It wasn't a matter of if, but when. When would Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turn to Kershaw? After Tyler Glasnow gave LA 4⅔ innings, Roberts handed the game over the bullpen. Anthony Banda, Justin Wrobleski, Blake Treinen, Jack Dreyer, Roki Sasaki, and Emmet Sheehan had all been called upon, and limited Toronto to just one run on nine hits through seven innings of relief.

Sheehan, however, ran into trouble in the 12th. A leadoff walk got things started, and after an intentional walk to Andres Giménez two batters later, Davis Schneider reached on a single to load the bases with two outs. Roberts had seen enough, and after 37 pitches from Sheehan, the Dodgers' skipper handed the ball off to the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

Kershaw toed the rubber to do battle with Nathan Lukes. In a see-saw matchup, it looked for a moment like Kershaw was about to let the Blue Jays off the hook, but Lukes fouled off what would've been ball four. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, he grounded out to second baseman Tommy Edman, who flipped with his glove onto first for the put out.

Clayton Kershaw’s World Series moment was made even more special thanks to his wife's reaction

Kershaw pumped his fist in celebration and was observed letting out a loud roar as he exited the field at Dodger Stadium — perhaps for the last time. While Kershaw is part of the Dodgers World Series roster, the assumption was always that he'd be used in a low-leverage situation when a game was already out of reach, not in the biggest moment with the game on the line.

Kershaw's wife Ellen could hardly contain her emotion. A shot into the crowd after the ground ball showed her with clinched fists raised above her head in relief after Edman flipped the ball to Freeman to end the Jays' threat in the 12th.

It took more six more innings for the Dodgers to finally seal the victory, but what could be Kershaw's final appearance saw him meet the moment head on. The Dodgers will need to carry that momentum over to Game 4 as they look to take a commanding lead in the World Series.

It's not yet known if Kershaw will step onto the mound again, but after Monday's epic performance, it's hard to rule anything out.