Longest game in MLB playoff history

With the MLB playoffs rearing to kick off next week, here’s a glimpse of the longest playoff game in MLB history.

On Aug. 26, the Los Angeles Dodgers played the San Diego Padres in a game that took nearly six hours to come to a close. Yes, the game lasted 16 innings and was the longest game of the regular season. With a week of games left to be played, that record stands to be broken.

While those 16 innings pale in comparison to the longest regular-season game in MLB history, the Dodgers have their name etched in MLB record books for another longest game:

What is the longest game in MLB playoff history?

The honor of being the longest game in postseason history is split between three games: Game 3 of the 2018 World Series between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox, the 2014 National League Divison Series Game 2 between the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals and finally, the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves NLDS Game 4 in 2005. Each of these games went on well past extra innings and all came to a close in the 18th inning.

Not only was the Dodgers and Red Sox World Series game the most recent but at just under seven-and-a-half hours, it took the longest of the trio to complete.

The game started at 5:10 p.m. PT and ended around 12:30 a.m. Between the teams, there were 18 pitchers that threw and a total of 46 players that stepped onto the field — both MLB postseason records.

It took the miracle of a walk-off homer from the Dodgers’ Max Muncy to bring the restless game to an end and cut the Red Sox’ series lead to 2-1. By winning the game, the Dodgers became MLB’s first team to win a game despite trailing in the 11th inning or later (per MLB.com).

longest MLB playoff game

That would be the three-way tie described above.