One Loss Felt Like Two

It took 18 innings innings before Max Muncy homered to lift the Dodgers over the Red Sox in Game 3 of the World Series. The Red Sox still have a 2-1 series lead, but they went all in to win that game, and came up short.

Nathan Eovaldi was scheduled to pitch Game 4 today, but Alex Cora used him in extras. Drew Pomeranz is the next man up, and they will likely need to lean on the bullpen again today. And in Game 5, I expect Clayton Kershaw to be sharper at home than he was in the Boston cold of Game 1. There are no certainties in baseball, especially when one game is the length of two, and the length of the first three games has already surpassed the entire 1939 World Series as former Dodgers GM Ned Coletti pointed out:

Postseason baseball is all about overreacting to small sample sizes. A once confident Red Sox Nation is waking up wondering if their team will ever win again, if Ian Kinsler cost them their shot to step on the Dodgers’ throat like The Red Viper standing over The Mountain. But the reality is it is just one game, the Dodgers needed that game more than the Red Sox did (and that was as true in the ninth as it was in the 18th), and Alex Cora has had this team ready to go all season. One epic marathon slog of a game that I cannot even pretend to have followed to conclusion should not be a reason to start doubting Cora now.

The narrative can flip again today, and three more times before the Red Sox fly back to Boston.

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