The Dodgers staved off a World Series sweep as they collected their first win on Friday, a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox that was part pitching duel and part extra-inning marathon. Down 2-0 in the series standings, they trotted out rookie right-hander Walker Buehler, whose seven scoreless innings laid the foundation for a triumphant comeback at Dodger Stadium. It was Max Muncy‘s walk-off home run, however, that sealed the deal, as the clubs battled over 18 innings in the longest World Series game to date.

Buehler was flawless from the get-go. The Red Sox worked him for 26 pitches in the first inning, fouling off a total 11 balls as Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts struck out in back-to-back at-bats and Mitch Moreland grabbed onto a 100.1-MPH fastball for an inning-ending fly out to Yasiel Puig in right field. The 24-year-old was matched at nearly every turn by Boston righty Rick Porcello, however, who set down two scoreless frames to start the game before he was eventually foiled by Joc Pederson‘s 380-foot solo shot in the third. By the time he made his exit in the fifth, the Dodgers had collected just three hits, a run, and a walk off the right-hander, and appeared wholly reliant on Buehler to preserve their narrow lead.

Buehler continued to battle inning after inning. Any thought of a perfect game was broken in the third when Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Christian Vasquez led off the inning with a pair of base hits, but they were the last baserunners Buehler would see all evening. From the fourth through the seventh, he dealt nothing but outs, and speared the heart of the strike zone with a 98.2-MPH heater to catch J.D. Martinez swinging for the Red Sox’ seventh strikeout of the night. Per MLB Stat of the Day, he’s the youngest Dodgers pitcher to go seven scoreless in a World Series game since 23-year-old Johnny Podres blanked the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 Fall Classic.

The Dodgers weren’t catching any breaks from Boston’s bullpen, either. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez struck out Pederson to end the fifth, while right-handers Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier, and Matt Barnes each logged a scoreless frame to keep the Red Sox within one run of tying the game. In the sixth, it almost looked like the Dodgers were verging on another run when Manny Machado struck a long line drive out to left field. Convinced it had left the park, Machado watched as it ricocheted off the wall and into Martinez’s glove. He eventually left the batter’s box for first base, where he proved unable to convert the hit into a run scored by alternative methods, too, as Cody Bellinger popped out to second for an inning-ending out in the next at-bat.

The Red Sox’ moment finally arrived in the bottom of the eighth. Down by one run, with two outs and Kenley Jansen on the cusp of another scoreless inning, Bradley Jr. lifted a 2-0 pitch out to right field to tie the game, 1-1. He’s one of just two players to collect 10+ RBI with two outs in a single postseason, joining Yogi Berra and his 10-RBI performance during the Yankees’ 1956 playoff run (h/t The Athletic’s Jayson Stark).

Jansen didn’t make the same mistake in the ninth, though, and David Price and Craig Kimbrel combined for another scoreless frame to send the game to extras. In the 10th, with Pedro Baez in for Jansen, J.D. Martinez drew a walk and was swiftly replaced by pinch-runner Ian Kinsler, who narrowly avoided a pick-off at first base, managed to skirt Justin Turner‘s tag at third, then was nailed at the plate by a spot-on throw from Bellinger to preserve the tie.

After another handful of up-and-down innings and some weird baseball (including catcher Christian Vazquez‘s first-ever appearance at first base and, later, Clayton Kershaw as a rarely-seen pinch-hitter), the Red Sox spotted their next opportunity to gain an advantage. Brock Holt worked a leadoff walk in the 13th, then advanced to second base when Los Angeles catcher Austin Barnes knocked Eduardo Nuñez down at the plate while chasing after a pitch. Nuñez was eventually able to stand and return to finish the at-bat, then chopped the ball back toward the mound. An errant throw by lefty Scott Alexander gave Holt just enough time to scoot around the bases and plate the go-ahead run — the first lead the Red Sox had held all night.

That wasn’t quite enough to put away the Dodgers. In the bottom of the inning, Nuñez tumbled into the stands while trying to glove a foul pop-up and inadvertently allowed Muncy to reach second base. With two outs in the 13th, Puig smoked a single up the middle that was tossed wide of first base and into the camera well while Muncy scored from second to tie up the game yet again. Despite some hemming and hawing from the Red Sox, who challenged the call on the grounds that the ball was out of play, the initial ruling was upheld and the game went to the 14th.

Clocking in at seven hours, 20 minutes, the longest time ever recorded for any postseason contest, Game 3 crowned its eventual champion in the 18th. As Boston right-hander Nathan Eovaldi entered his seventh inning of the night, Muncy stepped up to the plate and worked a full count on six pitches, then skied a 90.1-MPH cutter out to the center field bleachers to knock in the walk-off run. Not only was it Muncy’s first World Series home run, but it marked the first walk-off homer the World Series had seen in seven years, too.

Guess there is a Max for how many innings will be played tonight. pic.twitter.com/prBS1luHfK — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 27, 2018

Game 4 is set for Saturday night at 8:09 PM EDT. Southpaw Rich Hill is slated to take the mound as the Dodgers look to even the score, 2-2, while the Red Sox will attempt to move within one win of another championship title. A starter has yet to be confirmed for Boston in light of the six innings (and 97 pitches) tossed by presumed starter Nathan Eovaldi on Friday night. The Red Sox still lead the series, 2-1.