LOS ANGELES -- On a night when Shohei Ohtani could not be subdued, on a night when one of baseball's cathedrals offered its entrants a baptism in the sport's capacity for agony and ecstasy, on a night when the shame that the game had to end morphed into the fear that it never would, the Los Angeles Dodgers captured control of the World Series in a 6-5 Game 3 victory in 18 innings over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Freddie Freeman supplied the walk-off home run off Toronto reliever Brendon Little to send the Dodger Stadium crowd into the sort of rapture possible only after more than six hours of teeth-grinding, stomach-turning, heart-rending baseball. They were exhausted. They were exhilarated. As Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." blared across Chavez Ravine, they were heading to the parking lots knowing the Dodgers were two victories away from a second consecutive world championship.

Seven years after Game 3 of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium lasted 18 innings, that marathon now has company as the longest game in Fall Classic history. And to think, it all started as one man's show: Ohtani reached base nine times and carried the Dodgers in the early going. He supplied four extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs, before Toronto resorted to intentionally walking him a postseason-record four times. His outburst was only a portion of the evening's prologue.

Neither Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow nor Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer finished the fifth inning. Trailing by two runs, Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk sparked a four-run fourth inning with a three-run homer. The two clubs traded thrilling rallies and spectacular throws as the game stretched into extras. Ohtani smoked an RBI double in the fifth. After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scored from first on a single by Bo Bichette in the seventh, Ohtani tied the game in the bottom of the frame with his second homer of the night.

The final innings felt frenzied, impossibly tense, the sort of baseball only possible in October. After being walked in the ninth, Ohtani was thrown out by Kirk while trying to steal second. It was his only misstep during the innings of regulation.

Each manager unfurled his bullpen. Toronto emptied its bench. In the top of the 10th, pinch-runner Davis Schneider barreled toward the plate, desperate to score on a hit by outfielder Nathan Lukes. The relay from outfielder Teoscar Hernández to second baseman Tommy Edman beat Schneider by several steps. The crowd could not believe its luck.

In the top of the 12th, the ballpark cowered with worry as the bullpen door opened. Into the fray came Clayton Kershaw, the Hall of Famer only a few games away from retirement, looking to avoid one more postseason nightmare. The bases had been left loaded by youngster Emmett Sheehan, who had pitched into his third inning. Kershaw managed to put out the fire by inducing a groundout by Lukes.

For the series writ large, the most important moment might have occurred in the seventh, when Toronto designated hitter George Springer left the game after taking a painful swing. It was the only moment on Monday in which Springer received cheers from the Dodger Stadium faithful. Springer had already been dealing with significant knee discomfort throughout October.

Game 4 will take place on Tuesday, with Ohtani starting for the Dodgers against former Cy Young award winner Shane Bieber.

Dodgers outlast Blue Jays in classic, 18-inning Game 3 to take 2-1 lead in World Series