By the latter stages of the 18-inning contest, four of Toronto’s best hitters were no longer in the game

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By Jordan Shusterman via Yahoo Sports — Nathan Lukes’ left cleat landed on first base with force — but not quite in time.

In an 18-inning World Series Game 3 loaded with untimely and haunting outs for both teams, this one — a groundout with the bases loaded to end the top of the 12th inning — was particularly painful. Lukes was facing lefty Clayton Kershaw, a pitcher in the final days of his legendary career who was never expected to be appearing in any semblance of high leverage for Los Angeles this postseason.

But with two outs and the lefty Lukes scheduled to hit, Kershaw was stunningly summoned as the eighth Dodgers pitcher of the night, tasked with escaping the jam and preserving the tie. After an eight-pitch battle, Kershaw got Lukes to chase a slider below the zone that would have been ball four and an RBI walk, but instead was a soft rollover to second baseman Tommy Edman, who scooped the ball with his glove and flipped it to Freddie Freeman at first, a half-second before Lukes stepped on the bag.

Once his inning-ending out was confirmed by first-base umpire Alan Porter, Lukes removed his helmet, held it above his head and … Read More HERE

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