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Season on the brink.
The Yankees are one loss from the end of their season after Freddie Freeman hit another home run and Walker Buehler threw five shutout innings Monday night and the Dodgers won Game 3 of the World Series, 4-2, at Yankee Stadium.
New York’s offense sputtered again, managing nothing concrete until Alex Verdugo hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the ninth inning to make the score a tad more respectable. Overall, the Yanks had five hits. It was Verdugo’s first homer of the postseason and first career World Series homer.
Aaron Judge’s woes continued – he was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk and is batting .140 in the postseason.
If the Yankees don’t win Tuesday night’s Game 4, their title drought, which dates back to 2009, lives on and Los Angeles will end the World Series in a sweep for the first time since 2012.
Here are the takeaways…
– For all the pre-series talk about the Dodgers struggling to find starters in the postseason, they’ve been really good in the Fall Classic. Buehler threw five scoreless and allowed just two hits while striking out five and walking two. In the first three games of this series, LA starters have allowed just three earned runs in 16.2 innings pitched, a 1.62 ERA. Over three World Series starts in his career, Buehler has allowed one earned run in 18 innings. That’s a 0.50 ERA.
– Judge was cheered at introductions and when he came to the plate – perhaps Yankee fans were trying good vibes instead of boos to motivate the Yankee superstar? But his struggles at the plate are ongoing. Judge is now 6-for-43 this October with 20 strikeouts. In the World Series alone, Judge is 1-for-12.
– In the series, the Yankees have scored seven runs and have mostly struggled with runners in scoring position. They were 2-for-6 in Game 3 in such situations, but are only 4-for-20 (.200) in the series. They have left 25 runners on base in the series.
– Dating back to the 2021 World Series when he was with Atlanta, Freeman has now homered in five consecutive Fall Classic games, matching a record set by George Springer over the 2017 and 2019 World Series. Overall, Freeman’s blast off Yankee starter Clarke Schmidt was his 13th career postseason homer and fifth in World Series play.
– Schmidt was the first Yankee starting pitcher aged 28 or younger to start a World Series game since Andy Pettitte started Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, but he did not fare nearly as well as Pettitte, who threw seven innings and allowed two unearned runs. Schmidt was wild, walking Shohei Ohtani, the first batter of the game, on four pitches. One out later, Freeman homered and the Yankees were in a quick hole. Schmidt walked Tommy Edman on four pitches leading off the third inning and Edman scored two batters later on a bloop hit by Mookie Betts, putting the Dodgers ahead, 3-0.
Schmidt then walked Freeman, got a second out and walked Max Muncy on a 3-2 pitch, ending his night. Mark Leiter Jr. relieved him and retired Will Smith on a weak comebacker, but the Dodgers had added to their lead. Schmidt has now allowed seven earned runs in 12 innings this postseason, a 5.25 ERA. Schmidt threw only 37 strikes among his 68 pitches.
– The Yankees finally got their first hit with one out in the fourth inning when Giancarlo Stanton doubled to left field, his ninth extra-base hit of the postseason. With two down in the inning, Anthony Volpe singled to left and Stanton came around third, trying to score. Maybe the Yankees were trying to make something happen since they were having trouble scoring. But Stanton, who does not run well, was nailed at the plate on a strong throw from Teoscar Hernández to end the inning.
– The Yanks cobbled together another threat in the sixth, but it fizzled. Juan Soto drew a one-out walk and, after Judge hit into a fielder’s choice, Stanton ripped a line single to center, putting runners at first and second. But reliever Alex Vesia came in for a left-on-left matchup with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and got him to ground out, ending the inning. In the seventh, the Yanks had runners on first and second with two out, but Anthony Banda caught Gleyber Torres looking at a third strike, which the second baseman argued was high.
– The Dodgers entered the night with 12 stolen bases in the postseason, the most of any team, and their speed helped plate their fourth run. With one out in the sixth inning, Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch and stole second. Kiké Hernández followed with a single to center and Lux sprinted home, beating a strong throw from Judge.
Highlights
Game MVP: Freddie Freeman
Freeman, who is on a heater. His two-run homer in the first inning was his third of this World Series and took all the atmosphere, all the electricity, out of The Stadium.
What’s next
The season could come to an end in Game 4 on Tuesday night in The Bronx. New York has announced that Luis Gil will climb the hill in the top of the first inning. Los Angeles has yet to name a starting pitcher, but it will likely be a bullpen game. First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m.
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