TERRIFYING MOMENT DODGERS STAR FALLS HEADFIRST DOWN FLIGHT OF STAIRS INTO OPPONENT'S DUGOUT

Freddie Freeman avoided serious injury Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers' first baseman took a frightening tumble down the stairs and into the visitors' dugout while trying to catch a ball.

Freeman isn't sure whether he'll play when the Dodgers begin an important four-game series with the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, but he's grateful his freefall to the dugout floor wasn't worse.

'I didn't hit my head, so that was the key part there,' Freeman, who shares four children with his wife Chelsea, said.

'I am sore. Kneecaps are sore. Shoulder is sore. Hand sore. Wrist sore. I mean, I fell. (But) I'm in good spirits.'

Freeman stayed in the game and finished the top of the eighth, but Tommy Edman pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning before Los Angeles closed out a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, its fourth in five games.

The right side of Freeman's body took the punishment, but the 2024 World Series MVP apparently didn't break any bones.

Freddie Freeman took a frightening tumble down the stairs and into the visitors' dugout

He'll wait to see how he feels in the morning before he decides whether to play Thursday night when the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers welcome Milwaukee in a rematch of last year's National League Championship Series.

Freeman said he simply miscalculated the location of the dugout railing while he tracked Isaac Collins' foul pop.

'I went to lean, like I was going to lean against the rail to catch the ball - and obviously there was no rail,' Freeman said with a smile.

Freeman, who turns 37 in one month, said he was fortunate to fall all the way into the dugout, missing the top flight of stairs entirely.

That's because when he landed, his head stuck out into the open space above the second flight of stairs that goes down into the visitors' clubhouse instead of banging on the ground.

'Luckily, I was tall, so I missed everything else,' the 6-foot-4 Freeman cracked.

This wasn't Freeman's first fielding misadventure: He said he fell into the seats in Arizona roughly a decade ago while he was with the Atlanta Braves.

The Orange County native and childhood Angels fan also said he still remembers the infamous 1999 opening-day dugout fall by Mo Vaughn, who got hurt on the first play of his first game with the Halos.

The Royals rushed to Freeman's side after the fall, urging him to stay on the ground. Freeman decided to get up anyway, and the Dodgers' training staff rushed across the field to check on him.

'I think that we really dodged a bullet,' Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. 'Very scary visually. For right now, he's in good spirits, which I think is a good sign. Just kind of total body soreness.'

It comes a day after Freeman's wife Chelsea revealed she thought she might be suffering a heart attack during a recent emergency trip to the hospital.

She suffered frightening symptoms while her husband was away playing with the Dodgers, prompting her to call 911 after waking up in the middle of the night with sharp pain in her back and chest.

Sharing details via her Instagram Stories, the mom-of-four revealed she feared the pain might be a heart attack.

'It was really scary, especially since Freddie was out of town on the road,' she wrote.

- MAX WINTERS

MLB: DODGER'S BEAT BLUE JAYS IN 18-INNING WORLD SERIES EPIC

Oct 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk off home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighteenth inning during game three of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

LOS ANGELES - Freddie Freeman delivered a walk-off home run in the 18th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays late on Monday in a game that tied for the longest in World Series history.

The 18 innings tied the mark set by the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox in 2018 and the game was the second longest in a World Series by duration, lasting almost six hours and 40 minutes.

The win gave hosts Los Angeles a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"It's one of the greatest World Series games of all time," manager Dave Roberts said. "I'm spent emotionally ... fortunately for the Dodgers we got Freddie Freeman on our team."

Freeman, who also delivered a walk-off grand slam in last year's World Series against the New York Yankees, homered off Brendon Little to send Dodger Stadium wild. 

The first baseman became the first player in Major League Baseball history with multiple career World Series walk-off home runs. He also joined an exclusive group of just four players to hit multiple walk-off homers in the postseason.

OHTANI DOES IT AGAIN

Shohei Ohtani added another chapter to his storied career, reaching base nine times, a postseason record, with two home runs, two doubles and five walks, four of them intentional.

"I get it. He's the best player on the planet," Roberts said.

The Japanese player, who is set to pitch in Tuesday's Game Four, tied Corey Seager's Dodgers record of eight home runs in a single postseason.

"What matters is that we won," Ohtani said. "I want to go sleep as soon as possible so I can get ready."

Rookie right-hander Will Klein, the Dodgers' 10th pitcher, threw four shutout innings to earn the win.

"I love the way we played," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "Every single player had the right intentions. There's a lot to digest, but I couldn't feel as good as I do right now about the way they went about it."

After almost seven hours of baseball, Roberts summed up the mood best.

"Guys will do anything to win a championship and they're laying it out there."

- Reuters

LOS ANGELES DODGERS, ALL OF THEM, ARE WORLD CHAMPS

NEW YORK -- The 2024 World Series is over: Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers are champions in five games, the first title for him and, for the team, the eighth in franchise history.

There were heroes and goats, as there are in every Fall Classic, but no storybook showdown of Ohtani versus Aaron Judge. There were dramatic grand slams, stunning comebacks and horrible defensive miscues. The New York Yankees' title drought reached 15 years, and their captain, Judge, faced struggles that sometimes reached nightmarish levels.

In the end, what we got was a pure baseball matchup decided by baseball factors, and mostly by the fact the Dodgers had more good players than their opponent. They earned it -- as a group.

"They were the better team in this series," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, while praising his own heartbroken club.

This championship, and the way Los Angeles achieved it, is less about the names on the marquee and more because of the ensemble. It belongs to them all, as much to the supporting cast of Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux and Max Muncy as to Ohtani and fellow stars Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. To anonymous relievers as much as more heralded starters such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty. None of this is by accident. The Dodgers won this way because they were built to win this way.

Every season, the Dodgers rank near the top of the majors in categories such as rookie WAR and in total appearances on the transaction wire. Think about that: With all of the resources poured into the L.A. payroll -- the Dodgers spent more than $1 billion this past offseason -- the Andrew Friedman-led front office never stops tweaking the roster mix, addressing needs both immediate and imagined. The Dodgers excel at turning other teams' excesses into gold, with journeymen such as Ryan Brasier, Brent Honeywell and Anthony Banda becoming crucial contributors to the bullpen. Every bit as much attention is paid to the bottom 10 slots on the 40-man roster as it is to the top three.

"It's about getting the right players, the right people," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Talent is a lot, but it's not everything. You still have to be cohesive. I just think we do a great job of getting the right players in our clubhouse."

The Dodgers have as much star power as any team we've seen in recent years, but they could never be accused of taking a stars-and-scrubs approach, or constructing a top-heavy roster. Depth or stars? We'll have both, thank you.

"We have a culture here at the big league level," Roberts said. "But the scouting and player development is second to none."

After a second title in five years, the Dodgers, from top to bottom, are what Roberts says -- second to none.

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be the Ohtani-Judge World Series.

Just look at the cover of the official program. On the left is Ohtani, his face exuding focus and exertion, his arms pointing behind him in the act of the backswing that completes the arc of one of his mighty hacks.

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge grace the cover of the official 2024 World Series program. 

Judge is on the right, his mouth open in the midst of a shout, his head turned as he presumably looks at the bedlam in the dugout in the aftermath of one of his missile-like blasts into the farthest expanses of Yankee Stadium.

It would be Ohtani vs. Judge, in the ultimate version of a baseball hero's journey, one with no antagonists but two protagonists on a parallel odyssey in pursuit to slay the same dragon: a career-first championship.

Thus was the hook for the resumption of baseball's most prolific Fall Classic matchup, Yankees-Dodgers, the dream showdown between two of baseball's most storied franchises.

The hype wasn't without justification. This truly was an unprecedented clash between perhaps the best-right-now players in the sport, starring for marquee franchises in the glitziest of markets and biggest of stages. Together during the regular season, Judge and Ohtani hit .315/.423/.672 with 112 homers, 274 RBIs, 256 runs and 69 stolen bases. That's from two players.

This pairing of the game's two best players just hasn't happened very often in World Series history. It's easy to lose yourself in a debate about just who was considered the best in the game at any point, but the clear precedents are few: Ty Cobb vs. Honus Wagner in 1909. Ted Williams vs. Stan Musial in 1946. George Brett vs. Mike Schmidt in 1980.

Let's imagine the Platonic ideal as the climactic scene of "The Natural," when Roy Hobbs -- "the best there ever was" -- homers into the stratosphere, turning another Knights disappointment into an instant pennant. We've never had that payoff -- a championship-winning, come-from-behind home run blasted by the game's best player.

None of the superstar matchups we highlighted had the type of payoff we might dream of, and most of them disappointed altogether. In the just-completed 2024 showdown, while Ohtani played well as a stalwart at the top of the lineup, his series was most noteworthy because he popped his shoulder on a slide, bringing the term "subluxation" into the mainstream. And Judge, homerless until the clinching game, was astonishing to watch for much of the series, after a season in which he recorded one of the best offensive showings in history.

"He's a great player," a sympathetic Roberts said after Game 4. "I have so much respect for Aaron. There's probably a little bit of maybe trying too hard right now."

That's baseball, though, isn't it? When we zero in on a star matchup like Ohtani against Judge, that's the possibility we're teasing, even as we know the nature of the sport itself makes the realization of the dream scenario so unlikely.

In fact, the most cinematic moment of the series was not produced by Ohtani, Judge -- or even each team's next best player, Betts or Juan Soto. That belonged to yet another star, Freeman, in a postseason when his injuries threatened to keep him out of the lineup. His two-out, Game 1-ending grand slam evoked immediate images of 1988 Kirk Gibson and inspired Joe Davis' epic, instantaneous Vin Scully homage.

There's a lesson in there, both about baseball and about the Dodgers. No matter who we zero in on, it's never about only one person. Anybody might be the one to realize a boyhood dream.

"Those are the kind of things, when you're 5 years old with your two older brothers and you're playing whiffle ball in the backyard," Freeman said, "those are the scenarios you dream about. Two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game."

As for Ohtani, he went 0-for-4 in the clincher and struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth. It didn't make his night any less sweet.

"The success of the postseason is very similar to how we were able to pull it off during the regular season," Ohtani said, via interpreter Will Ireton. "Again: The strength of the organization. Extremely honored to be a part of this."

CONSIDER THAT 29 different Dodgers played this October. Nearly everyone had meaningful roles along the way, including a bright-eyed rookie named Ben Casparius, who began October with all of three big league appearances under his belt. He ended up making a start in Game 4 as an opener.

This is every bit as much a characteristic of this era of Dodgers baseball as the presence of household names Ohtani, Betts, Freeman and Clayton Kershaw.

"It takes a lot to get here," Kershaw said. "Regardless of the talent level, everybody just assumes that we're going to show up, win 100 games and win the World Series. It takes every last guy."

Since the start of the 2021 season, the Dodgers have had 68 instances of a player recording at least one bWAR. Only the Brewers and Rays (69 each) have more. But the Dodgers have also had 17 instances of a player reaching an All-Star level of four BWAR, second only to the Astros (18). L.A.'s success is built on stars plus depth.

During the 12 full seasons since the Guggenheim Baseball Management group assumed control of the Dodgers, they've won 99.2 of every 162 regular-season games they've played. During the wild-card era, no team has done better over such a span, one that has included 11 first-place finishes, a 12-for-12 presence in the postseason bracket, four pennants and, now, two World Series titles. And there is no question the Dodgers' economics might play a role in the team's staying power. According to Cot's Contracts, the Dodgers have sported a top-five payroll in all of those seasons. Yet other teams make huge payroll splurges -- including the past two teams they beat, the Yankees in the World Series and the Mets in the National League Championship Series -- and the Dodgers are sometimes outspent by one or two competitors.

A level of investment measuring in the billions sets a clear expectation for everyone who dons Dodger blue: to do what they did Wednesday -- win it all. That expectation isn't just carried by Ohtani, Betts and Freeman, but everyone who steps into the clubhouse. They would have it no other way.

"You've got a lot of good people that care about winning and that want to win," second baseman Gavin Lux said. "None of them have egos."

The Dodgers' stars, including Ohtani, outperformed their New York counterparts, especially Judge, in the Series, but that was mainly because of Freeman's massive output as World Series MVP. That certainly played a part in L.A.'s triumph.

But in terms of the headliner matchup, at no point did this feel like an Ohtani-versus-Judge World Series. If anything, it was the Freeman series, but of course he isn't going to claim that title.

"Sitting here now, I've just been blessed to be able to play this game a long time and be in certain situations because of the group of guys, the organization," Freeman said. "Just from top to bottom, to be put into a situation. ... I mean, I got asked about the RBIs, and the RBIs are because there were guys on base. That's my teammates."

NO TEAM LOST more player games to injury in 2024 than the Dodgers. Even as they sprayed champagne and whooped it up in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, the Dodgers had more than an entire upper-tier starting rotation on the injured list.

That's why Roberts -- whose postseason decisions have been maligned by Dodgers fans and detractors alike over the years -- deserves so much credit for this run. It's not just that Roberts, along with pitching coach Mark Prior, was able to navigate around the losses in the pitching staff. It's also that the skipper, as usual, folded in rookies such as outfielder Andy Pages, Landon Knack, Casparius and even Yamamoto, not a traditional rookie but a rookie nonetheless. It's also that when the Dodgers splurged at the trade deadline, adding Flaherty, Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech, they all fit so seamlessly on and off the field that it's easy to forget they didn't join the team until the end of July.

No game showed it more acutely than the Dodgers' Game 5 win against San Diego in the NL Division Series, when the big three went a combined 1-for-10 but four relievers backed Yamamoto on a two-hit shutout and Teoscar Hernandez and Enrique Hernandez hit solo homers for the game's only runs.

"He lets you be the player that you'll always be," Teoscar said of Roberts. "He lets you have fun. His communication with his players is one of the best that I've had in my career. I think that's why he's so special for this team and the players."

Roberts' masterpiece was Game 5, when he had to work around Flaherty's too-brief outing and a bullpen with perhaps too few adequately rested arms. So Roberts rode relief ace Blake Treinen for 42 pitches -- seven more than he got from Flaherty. And then he turned to Walker Buehler, his Game 3 starter only two days before, to slam the door in the ninth.

"That's one of the best games I've ever seen managed," Freeman said. "That was special."

Through it all, Roberts spreads the credit steadily away from himself, even as he joins the short list of managers who have won more than one World Series, a list made up almost entirely of current and future Hall of Famers, including Dodgers legends Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda.

"Humbling," Roberts said. "Never thought I would be in that same conversation. I'm a part of a great organization, a lot of great people around me supporting me, and we've won a lot of ballgames. This is something I really wanted. I wanted this one."

If Roberts required validation that perhaps the team's shortened-season 2020 title did not supply -- he has it. He might just be another high-profile cog in the Dodgers' immense apparatus, but he's a vital one. He's also the manager of a dynasty.

This championship -- after a grueling marathon of 162 games plus a month of playoffs, cannot be diminished. It took all of the Dodgers to make it happen, right to the end.

When the Dodgers spilled out of the third-base dugout after the final out, Ohtani, Betts and Freeman were in the middle of the pile. So too were Casparius and Knack. Baseball's latest championship doesn't belong to any one of them, but all of them, under a banner dyed a rich Dodger blue, just how it was drawn up all along.

- Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Staff Writer

DODGERS: FREDDIE FREEMAN DECIMATED UNPRECEDENTED WORLD SERIES RECORD IN GAME 4

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar first baseman Freddie Freeman is on a historic tear in the 2024 World Series.

Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Freeman broke the record for most consecutive World Series games with a home run after he sent a 343-foot bomb into the right field stands at Yankee Stadium during the first inning of Game 4 on Tuesday night. The home run made it six straigh,,t games that the former 2020 National League MVP has connected on a long ball in the Fall Classic dating back to Game 5 of the 2021 World Series when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

According to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, Freeman felt that the achievement was “pretty cool” to notch and he wants to keep up his hot bat, but the standout infielder is focused on closing out the New York Yankees in Game 5 more than anything else. Though he’s appropriately laser-focused on winning the Commissioner’s Trophy without delay, his achievement is worthy of recognition. Cassavell unveiled this tidbit that accentuates just how special the feat is:

“Only Houston’s George Springer had homered in four straight games within a single World Series, having done so in Games 4-7 in 2017, but Freeman is the first to do it in the first four games of the Fall Classic,” Cassavell wrote.

Freeman could make more MLB history en route to potential World Series MVP

If Freeman hits another home run in the Dodgers’ potential World Series clincher on Wednesday night, he can also become the first player to homer in five straight games of the same World Series, and would put a definitive stamp on his case to be named World Series MVP.

The California native has a whopping 10 RBIs along with an otherworldly .313/.353/1.188 slash line and a 1.540 OPS added to the four home runs he has to his name against the Yankees so far. He’s been the Dodgers’ most impactful player through four contests and, barring an explosion from reigning NLCS MVP Tommy Edman or starting pitcher Walker Buehler (should the series reach a Game 7), Freeman should have the top individual World Series honor in the bag, along with an unreal MLB record to go along with it.

- Matthew Legros

DODGERS' FREDDIE HITS WALK-OFF IN WORLD SERIES GAME 1

Freddie Freeman celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off grand slam to lift the Dodgers to a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

LOS ANGELES -- Thirty-six years ago around these parts, Kirk Gibson hobbled out of a trainer's room, willed one of the most improbable walk-off home runs in baseball history and celebrated the occasion by lifting his right fist into the air. On Friday night, Freddie Freeman raised his bat.

With the bases loaded, two outs and his Los Angeles Dodgers trailing by a run in the 10th inning of one of the most highly anticipated World Series in recent memory, Freeman turned on an inside fastball from Nestor Cortes and watched it fly, sending the Dodgers to a stirring 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1.

Bedlam surrounded him. A sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,394 went into a frenzy. Teammates spilled out of the dugout in uncontrollable glee. And for Freeman -- limited all month by a severely sprained right ankle, grinding through the tail end of a bizarre, at-times disheartening season -- it was almost as if time stood still. He raised his bat to the sky, then began a numbing trot around the bases.

"I felt like nothing," Freeman said. "Just kind of floating."

Freeman became the first player in World Series history to hit a walk-off grand slam, a statistic he couldn't believe. He is the third player in Dodgers history to produce a walk-off home run in the World Series, the last of whom was his teammate, Max Muncy, in 2018.

Most notable, though, was his ties to Gibson, the only other player to send the Dodgers to a walk-off win in the opening game of the World Series. Gibson's feat, against Oakland Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley, propelled the Dodgers to a title in 1988. The team rallied around his courage. The Dodgers haven't won a full-season championship since -- but they're three wins away from rallying around Freeman for another.

"When you're 5 years old with your two older brothers and you're playing whiffle ball in the backyard, those are the scenarios you dream about -- two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game," Freeman said. "For it to actually happen, and get a home run and walk it off to give us a 1-0 lead, that's as good as it gets right there."

Often on Friday night, it looked as if the Dodgers wouldn't break through. They scored only once against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in the first six innings, doing little to support a highly effective Jack Flaherty despite being presented with a multitude of opportunities.

After Giancarlo Stanton delivered a two-run homer for the Yankees in the top of the sixth, his sixth of this postseason, the Dodgers got a leadoff double from Tommy Edman, bringing up their celebrated top of the lineup. But Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman were retired in order. The Dodgers had two runners in scoring position with one out in the seventh, but Will Smith and Gavin Lux couldn't come through.

Ohtani ultimately tied the score in the eighth, doubling off the wall in right field, sprinting to third base when Juan Soto's throw got away and scoring on Betts' sacrifice fly. And when Jazz Chisholm Jr. manufactured the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th -- lining a single, stealing two bases and scoring on a fielder's choice groundout -- the Dodgers came back again.

Lux drew a one-out walk and Edman followed with a single, bringing up Ohtani and triggering a bizarre decision from Yankees manager Aaron Boone. Cortes, a veteran left-handed starting pitcher who had been recovering from a flexor strain and hadn't appeared in a game since Sept. 18, was summoned from the bullpen to face Ohtani. On Cortes' first pitch, Ohtani lofted a fly ball to foul territory in left field. Alex Verdugo made a spectacular lunging catch, but he also rolled over the fence and out of play, prompting both runners to automatically advance. With first base open, the Yankees elected to intentionally walk Betts and set up the left-on-left matchup with Freeman.

Freeman faced Cortes three times earlier this year, when the Dodgers visited Yankee Stadium on June 8. As soon as he saw plate umpire Carlos Torres raise four fingers to signal Betts' free pass, Freeman started to go through his process. He remembered how Cortes' fastball had ride to it, and he wanted to look for it on the inner half, partly to stay away from chasing the cutter and slider away. He told himself to stay on top of the pitch.

"I wanted to be on time," Freeman said, "and I was."

Freeman's batted ball left his bat at 109.2 mph and went 409 feet into the right-field pavilion. A no-doubter.

"I know everybody's focused on Ohtani, Ohtani, Ohtani," Cortes said. "We get him out, but Freeman is also a really good hitter. I just couldn't get the job done today."

When the World Series concludes, Freeman's Under Armour cleats will be donated to the Hall of Fame. At 8:38 p.m. PT on Friday, they were with him as he vigorously high-fived first-base coach Clayton McCullough, flexed toward the left-field fans on his way to third, got swallowed by bobbing teammates at home plate and sprinted to the backstop to celebrate with his father, Fred Freeman, who was seated nearby.

"I was shocked," Fred said of his son coming over. "I was so excited and proud of him."

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, motivated by all of those days Fred tossed his son batting practice.

"My swing is because of him, my approach is because of him," Freeman said. "I am who I am because of him."

The last three months have been a whirlwind for Freeman. His young son, Max, had a scary bout with Guillain-Barré syndrome before making a miraculous recovery, prompting Freeman to be away from the team for 10 days. Freeman then suffered a nondisplaced fracture in his right middle finger. Then, on Sept. 26, the night the Dodgers clinched their 11th division title in 12 years, Freeman rolled his right ankle on a play at first base.

Every day that followed has been a fight.

"He's doing something that is basically heroic to put himself in a position to even be available," Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernandez said.

"Freddie's a competitor, a fighter," Betts added. "He's a part of this group, and this group loves each other. Him, like the rest of us, will do whatever it takes to play. It couldn't happen to a better human being. Freddie goes through so much. He doesn't complain. He shows up ready to go no matter what."

Freeman's ankle reacted poorly when the National League Championship Series shifted to Citi Field in New York last week, so much so that he was out of the lineup for the pennant-clinching Game 6. The Dodgers winning that Sunday, though, ensured Freeman would receive six full days of rest before Game 1 of the World Series. Freeman stayed away from running, instead doing light defensive work, taking batting practice and undergoing lots of treatment.

Along the way, he found a cue that involved, in the words of Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, "staying planted to the ground so he could rotate and transfer." Freeman took batting practice Tuesday and continually hit line drives to the area of shortstop. He felt he was in a good place.

When lineups were introduced Friday, it marked the first time he had actually run onto the field to shake hands with teammates who lined up along the third-base line. And when he took his first at-bat, he produced a liner down the left-field line that caromed off the fence, rolled past Verdugo and resulted in his first career postseason triple.

Nine innings later, he shocked the world -- just like Gibson.

With one exception.

"I played the whole game," Freeman said.

ESPN's Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers and Jorge Castillo contributed to this report.

- Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer

MLB ROUNDUP: DODGERS' 4-HOMER INNING

USA TODAY Sports 

 Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez and Jason Heyward homered in a seven-run sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to a 15-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Will Smith added a three-run home run, Mookie Betts hit a three-run double and James Paxton (6-1) gave up one run over six innings as the Dodgers improved to 9-4 following a season-worst, five-game losing streak late last month.

Ezequiel Duran hit a home run as the Rangers lost for the fifth time in seven games. Texas starter Dane Dunning (4-5) gave up six runs over 3 2/3 innings, while Grant Anderson yielded all seven runs in the sixth inning while recording two outs.

The last time the Dodgers hit four home runs in an inning was on September 29, 2021.

Rays 5, Cubs 2

Brandon Lowe crushed a walk-off, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as Tampa Bay rallied and broke a four-game losing streak with a win over Chicago in St. Petersburg, Fla.

With the Rays down 2-1 and Cubs closer Hector Neris (6-1) on the mound, Jose Caballero slashed a one-out single to knock in Richie Palacios, who led off the ninth with a double. On a 3-2 splitter from Neris, Lowe rocked his third homer for his fourth career walk-off hit and Rays' fifth this season.

Chris Devenski (2-1) tossed a perfect ninth for Tampa Bay.

Padres 4, A's 3

Kyle Higashioka led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off home run as San Diego edged visiting Oakland.

Higashioka jumped on a hanging changeup from Scott Alexander (0-1) and lined it into the left field corner. Robert Suarez (3-0) retired all four batters he faced to pick up the win.

Tyler Soderstrom cracked a two-run homer off Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth inning, drawing the A's even at 3-3.

Yankees 10, Royals 1

Aaron Judge, back from his first day off of the season, homered and knocked in three runs as New York demolished host Kansas City.

After singling in a run in the first inning, Judge hit a two-run, 436-foot blast to center, his 25th, for a 9-0 Yankees lead in the seventh. He is hitting .401 with 21 homers and 49 RBIs over his past 41 games.

New York starter Marcus Stroman (6-2) threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowing four hits. Royals starter Brady Singer (4-3) was tagged for seven runs, six earned, on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Orioles 4, Braves 0

Jorge Mateo smacked a three-run home run in his first action in nine days and five pitchers combined on a five-hitter as Baltimore returned from an eight-game road trip to defeat Atlanta.

Albert Suarez (3-0) worked 5 1/3 shutout innings to help the Orioles earn fifth consecutive victory and their 15th win in their past 19 outings.

Atlanta starter Max Fried (6-3) lasted five-plus innings, and he was charged with four runs on six hits. His personal three-game winning streak ended.

Diamondbacks 9, Angels 4

Randal Grichuk and Corbin Carroll each fell one component short of the cycle as two of four Diamondbacks to record three hits during Arizona's victory over Los Angeles in Phoenix.

Grichuk finished a single shy and Carroll was missing the homer while Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. joined them as part of the three-hit brigade. Grichuk, Gurriel and Moreno drove in two runs apiece as the Diamondbacks racked up 15 hits while winning for the seventh time in 10 games.

Taylor Ward homered, drove in two runs and scored twice for the Angels, who have dropped three of four games.

Phillies 4, Red Sox 1

Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, including his 17th career multi-homer game out of the leadoff spot, as visiting Philadelphia beat Boston.

Schwarber, who returned to Boston for the first time since his departure after the 2021 season, ripped leadoff blasts in the first and fifth innings. Bryson Stott went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Zack Wheeler (8-3) allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings.

David Hamilton went 2-for-4 for Boston. Kutter Crawford (2-6) struck out eight and surrendered four runs, two earned, over six innings.

Blue Jays 3, Brewers 0

George Springer, Spencer Horwitz and Danny Jansen had RBIs, Yusei Kikuchi pitched five scoreless innings and visiting Toronto defeated Milwaukee.

Kikuchi (4-5) allowed three hits and four walks while striking out five. Yimi Garcia pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings, recording three strikeouts to earn his fifth save of the season.

Brewers starter Carlos Rodriguez (0-1) made his major league debut and allowed two runs, seven hits and one walk in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out four.

Marlins 4, Mets 2

Jesus Luzardo combined with three relievers on a four-hitter for Miami in a victory at New York.

Tim Anderson, Nick Gordon and Bryan De La Cruz drove in runs for the Marlins, who won for just the second time in eight games. Mark Vientos laced a two-run double for the Mets, who fell to 6-4 in their last 10. Luzardo (3-5) gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Starling Marte finished with two hits for the Mets. New York starter Tylor Megill (1-3) allowed three runs, two earned, over 4 2/3 innings.

Rockies 5, Twins 4

Ezequiel Tovar and Ryan McMahon each homered and Colorado held on for a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Michael Toglia also drove in a run for the Rockies, who won for only the third time in their past 11 games. Byron Buxton went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run for Minnesota. Carlos Santana also hit a two-run homer for the Twins.

Rockies starter Cal Quantrill (6-4) pitched six scoreless innings. Tyler Kinley gave Santana's two-run shot in the ninth just still earned his fifth save. Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar (2-2) took the loss after yielding four runs without getting an out.

Astros 3, Giants 1

Ronel Blanco teamed with three relievers on a three-hitter and Houston took advantage of a Matt Chapman error to score the decisive runs in a victory at San Francisco.

Blanco (6-2) went six innings, limiting the Giants to one run and three hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Mauricio Dubon had two hits and scored twice while Jon Singleton collected two singles for the Astros.

Patrick Bailey had a double among the three hits for the Giants, who lost for just the second time in their past six games. The lone San Francisco run came via Brett Wisely's solo homer in the third inning. Giants starter Jordan Hicks (4-3) gave up three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Guardians 5, Reds 3

Steven Kwan doubled twice, had three hits and drove in two runs, and Tyler Freeman made consecutive leaping catches at the outfield wall to lead visiting Cleveland over Cincinnati

Josh Naylor belted a tape-measure homer in the eighth inning for insurance, helping secure a win for Triston McKenzie (3-3), who worked 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. Emmanuel Clase earned his 20th save as the Guardians won for their third game in a row.

Reliever Nick Martinez (2-4) gave up three runs in 1 2/3 innings as the Reds took their second straight loss after seven wins in a row.

Pirates 2, Cardinals 1

Jack Suwinski scored on a ninth-inning fielder's choice and Andrew McCutchen subsequently raced home on a sacrifice fly, fueling Pittsburgh to a victory at St. Louis.

Pirates rookie Paul Skenes allowed five hits and struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Colin Holderman (2-0) earned the win in relief, and David Bednar posted his 14th save despite seeing Nolan Gorman belt his first pitch for a homer to lead off the ninth inning.

Ryan Helsley (2-3) yielded both Pittsburgh runs in the ninth after Miles Mikolas took a no-hitter in the seventh inning. Mikolas fired seven shutout frames, permitting just one hit and one walk while fanning six.

Mariners 4, White Sox 3

Cal Raleigh doubled home the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Seattle rallied to beat Chicago, spoiling the major league debut of top pitching prospect Drew Thorpe.

Raleigh, who hit a walk-off grand slam in an 8-4 victory over Chicago on Monday, had two doubles and three RBIs for the Mariners, who won their third in a row. Andrew Vaughn and Paul DeJong homered for the White Sox, who have lost 28 of 33 road games this season.

Thorpe was called up after going 7-1 with a 1.35 ERA at Double-A Birmingham. He allowed two runs -- one earned -- on three hits over five innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out four.

Nationals 5, Tigers 4 (10 innings)

Lane Thomas drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly and Washington extended its winning streak to four games by defeating host Detroit.

Thomas had two RBIs. Kyle Finnegan (2-3) struck out three in 1 1/3 perfect innings to pick up the win.

Riley Greene had a three-run triple for the Tigers, who fell for the fourth time in five games.