The Dodgers player who did everything he could to save World Series before it slipped

There are nights when the biggest swing may not be a swing at all. In the 18-inning fever dream that was World Series Game 3, the Los Angeles Dodgers were buoyed by supernovas like Shohei Ohtani reaching base nine times and Freddie Freeman walking it off. Yet the entire shape of the marathon hinged on a single read, and one audacious throw from Tommy Edman. In a game that swerved from delirious to desperate with every extra frame, Edman’s defense became the quiet rudder, steadying L.A. long enough for Freeman to end it at 6–5 and seize a 2–1 series lead. 

That’s why this isn’t a box-score argument. It’s a leverage argument. Edman started his night with a gut-punch miscue at second base that helped fuel Toronto’s fourth-inning surge, then spent the rest of the epic tying himself to the game’s hardest plays and coming out clean. It’s the resiliency that matters: the willingness to keep taking the next play, and then the next, until the math finally breaks your way.

How Tommy Edman’s glove changed Game 3 for the Dodgers - and why Games 4 and 5 were such a letdown

Edman's signature moment came with the score locked 5–5 in the ninth, one out, danger humming. He read a flare that deflected off Freddie Freeman’s glove and into shallow right, slid to secure it, popped up, and uncorked a one-hop strike to third to erase Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the go-ahead run, by an eyelash. That single sequence preserved the tie and, in hindsight, preserved the Dodgers’ chance to win a game that refused to end. Even in a night stuffed with postseason firsts, that heads-up play stood out as the hinge. 

The subtext makes it better. Edman had already worn the fourth-inning error. He’s also the roster Swiss-Army knife, second base by trade, capable of stepping into center when needed (despite nagging injuries), and that elasticity showed up in his routes and positioning as the game stretched into the absurd hours. It’s the exact reason L.A. extended him and the reason his teammates trust him in chaos. 

Even neutrals noticed the defensive theater from the “right side” all night. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi summed up the tone perfectly in real time: 

“Not sure I’ve ever seen a World Series game with two throws from the right side of the infield like Vlad & Edman. Epic night of baseball.” 

In a game remembered for Ohtani’s history and Freeman’s finish, the conversation kept snapping back to outs created with arms, and Edman’s might have been the most consequential of them all. 

And that’s the point. Ohtani will (rightly) hoard the superlatives and MVP talk after stacking a record-setting on-base clinic. But if you’re asking who personally flipped the night, who took a tie and kept it a tie long enough for L.A. to find daylight, it was the second baseman who turned the most important out of the season. Not all October heroes wear capes; some carry a four-seam to third on a short hop and change everything. 

We thought Edman's steely-eyed resolve was the team's chief momentum turner. As it turns out, it might've been an unheralded performance standing in the way of a five-game series loss. But the Dodgers are still alive. The Dodgers can still create miracles on the road in Games 6 and 7. And Edman is a major, near-forgotten reason why it's not quite over yet.