NEW YORK – Rapper Fat Joe sang before Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
The fat lady might be next.
The Dodgers hit a two-run home run off Freddie Freeman in the primary inning and never looked back. With a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees, they moved inside one game of their first full-season championship since 1988.
Starting with Freeman's walk-off grand slam within the tenth inning of Game 1, the Dodgers have outscored the Yankees 12-4 in the primary three games of this series. They will fight for the championship – and their first World Series win since 2012 (San Francisco Giants vs. Detroit Tigers) – in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. It can be only the second victory within the 12 World Series meetings between these two rivals (the Dodgers also did it in 1963).
Shohei Ohtani has replaced Freeman because the injured Dodger continues to play heroically. Ohtani got here to pregame introductions wearing a brace or heating pad on his injured left shoulder under his jacket and holding his left arm near his body as he ran the bases. He went 0 for 3 but reached base twice – on a walk and when he was hit within the foot by a pitch.
Freeman now appears to have recovered from the ankle sprain that affected him a lot in the primary two rounds of the postseason. He converted an inside cutter from Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt in the primary inning Monday night and placed it in the correct field pitches for a two-run home run.
Freeman also hit a house run within the third inning of Game 2, becoming only the third player to hit a house run in each of the primary three games of a World Series (Barry Bonds in 2002, Hank Bauer in 1958). Freeman also hit a house run for the Atlanta Braves in Games 5 and 6 of the 2021 World Series, giving him a record five consecutive World Series appearances. George Springer also did it for the Houston Astros within the 2017 and 2019 World Series.
In what could also be his final game in a Dodgers uniform — he will likely be a free agent this winter — Walker Buehler remembered his own story. Pitching just like the Buehler of old, he held the Yankees scoreless for five innings, allowing just two hits and two walks.
The regular season's 5.38 ERA was irrelevant within the postseason. Buehler allowed six runs within the second inning of Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres – after which gave the Dodgers 12 consecutive scoreless innings the remainder of the postseason. He has allowed one run in his 18 profession World Series innings.
That six-run inning within the NLDS was fueled by poor defense — in order that they owed him one. The only time Buehler got into trouble against the Yankees, the defense tightened up around him.
Giancarlo Stanton doubled with one out within the fourth inning (Buehler's first hit). Mookie Betts made a diving catch for the second time on Jazz Chisholm's sinking liner before Anthony Volpe dropped a single into left field. Teoscar Hernandez threw and leapt fired a 93.9 mph bullet (his fastest throw of the season in keeping with Statcast) to catch Will Smith, who struck out Stanton and kept the Yankees scoreless.
After Freeman's power burst, the Dodgers took more pedestrian routes to attain single runs within the third and sixth.
In the third, Tommy Edman drew a leadoff walk, took second on Ohtani's ground out and raced home on Betts' bloop single to right field. In the sixth, Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch, stole second and narrowly beat the throw to attain on Kiké Hernandez's single to center field.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all the time made Tuesday's pitching plan in mind when making bullpen decisions – and continued to make the correct decisions like he has this postseason run.
But he needed to endure scares within the sixth and seventh innings. Most dangerously, the Yankees put two runners on with two outs within the seventh. With Juan Soto on deck, Anthony Banda struck out Gleyber Torres when home plate umpire Mark Carlson called a 2-and-2 fastball clear over the zone strike three.
The Dodgers were only one out away from their fifth shutout of the postseason (which might tie Cleveland's postseason record set in 2016) when Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run off Michael Kopech.
Originally published:
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