Game 3 of the World Series turned into a marathon as the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers battled for 18 long innings on Monday.
Clocking in at six hours and 39 minutes, the match at Dodgers Stadium was one of the longest ever World Series games. The Dodgers won 6-5 with a home run just before midnight in Los Angeles to take a 2-1 series lead. According to the MLB, the average game length in the 2025 season was two hours and 38 minutes.
If a baseball game is tied after nine regulation innings, extra innings are played until the tie is broken. That can sometimes transform “America’s pastime” into a gruelling endurance sport.
These are the longest games in Major League Baseball history:
The longest World Series games
Monday night’s match between the Blue Jays and Dodgers is tied for the longest ever World Series game by innings – but it was only the second longest postseason game by duration.
That record was made before the introduction of the pitch clock in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox duked it out for a whopping seven hours and 20 minutes over 18 innings until the Dodgers clinched a 3-2 home win. It would be Los Angeles’ only victory in the series, which the Red Sox won after five games.
After the two 18-inning games, there’s a three-way tie for the second longest World Series games by innings. Lasting 14 innings each, those matches occurred in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series (five hours and 41 minutes), Game 1 of the 2015 World Series (five hours and nine minutes) and Game 2 of the 1916 World Series (two hours and 32 minutes).
The longest postseason games
Excluding World Series matches, the longest postseason MLB game took place during Game 2 of the 2014 National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals. Lasting six hours and 23 minutes, the Giants beat the home team 2-1 after 18 innings. San Francisco would go on to win the World Series that year.
Game 3 of the 2022 American League Division Series between the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners also took place over 18 innings. Lasting six hours and 22 minutes, the Astros won the game 1-0 in Seattle before going on to win the World Series.
A third 18-inning postseason match occurred in Game 4 of the 2005 National League Division Series between the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, which the Astros won 7-6 after five hours and 50 minutes. After reaching the World Series, the Astros were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox.
Other notable postseason marathons include a 16-inning game over four hours and 42 minutes between the New York Mets and Houston Astros in 1986. There have also been four 15-inning postseason games, such as the Seattle Mariners’ 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of this year’s American League Division Series, which lasted four hours and 58 minutes. Other 15-inning postseason games occurred between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays in 2022 (four hours and 57 minutes), the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves in 1999 (five hours and 46 minutes), and the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners in 1995 (five hours and 12 minutes).
Until Monday night, the Blue Jays’ longest postseason match took place during Game 2 of the 2015 American League Division Series battle against the Texas Rangers. While the Blue Jays lost the nearly five-hour game after 14 innings, they would go on to clinch the series in Game 5, which will forever be remembered in Toronto for Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip.
The longest regular season games
The longest major league baseball game by innings occurred in May 1920 when the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Robins duked it out for 26 innings. Without modern stadium lights, the game in Boston was eventually called off due to darkness and declared a 1-1 tie. Despite the record number of innings, the game only lasted three hours and 50 minutes. The Brooklyn team would later relocate and become the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958.
In terms of duration, the longest ever MLB game took place in May 1984 between the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. It took eight hours and six minutes for the White Sox to win 7-6 at home after 25 long innings. Due to a previous 1 a.m. American League curfew rule, the game was suspended after 17 innings before resuming the next day.
