Dodgers Stunned: Yankees’ Big Bats Keep World Series Hope Alive

When you’re trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series, you’re basically in hope-and-pray territory. Yes, we all know the story of the one time it’s happened before in baseball, but there’s a reason that was such an aberration. You need a good amount to go right in order to beat even a mediocre team four times in a row.

Thanks to big nights from Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Gleyber Torres, and, yes, Aaron Judge, the Yankees pounded the Dodgers for double-digit runs in their bullpen game, staving off elimination after a bad start. It’s not yet a lot, but it’s a start, as the Yankees won 11-4 to get the World Series to 3-1 with their No. 1 starter on the bump tomorrow.

The game started in a fashion familiar to the rest of this series. With Mookie Betts on after a one-out double, Freddie Freeman burned the Yankees for the fourth consecutive game. He sent yet another home run into the short porch in right field, giving the Dodgers another first-inning lead and burnished his case for World Series MVP.

The bottom of the first was also the epitome of this series. Despite getting Juan Soto and Judge on via walk, the Yankees couldn’t answer back. Even dumber was that on one of the inning’s outs came on a catch from Betts down the right-field line, after which some fans attempted to interfere in the dumbest possible way, trying to literally rip the ball out of his glove.

Yeah, you can’t do that.

In the second, the Yankees did get on the board, albeit in a frustrating manner. Following a one-out walk, Volpe ended up on second after a stolen base. Next up was Wells, who showed a pulse with a long drive to center field. Kiké Hernández nearly ran it down, but it went just past his glove and off the wall, before bounce back past him. For whatever reason, Volpe had remained in position to tag up in case the ball was caught. That led to him having to stop at third, also erasing the very slight chance that Wells could’ve made it to third himself. Volpe did end up scoring on a groundout, but it felt like a missed opportunity for more.

It only took an inning for Volpe to redeem himself, though. In the bottom of the third, the Yankees loaded the bases after a Judge hit-by-pitch, a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single, and a Giancarlo Stanton walk. However with two outs in the inning, it was left up to Volpe. On the first pitch he faced from Daniel Hudson, Volpe delivered, sending a ball over the left-field wall for a grand slam that fully woke up the Bronx.

Will Smith got a run back for the Dodgers in the fifth. His solo home run was quite literally an “only in Yankee Stadium” homer, but it counts all the same. After Gil followed that with a walk to Tommy Edman, Aaron Boone came out to end the rookie’s day.

Tim Hill replaced Gil and allowed a single to Shohei Ohtani. After getting Betts to hit into a force out at second, it appeared as if he got Freeman to ground into an inning-ending double play. However, it was a close play at first and the Dodgers reviewed. The call was overturned, meaning that a run scored on the grounder. With that additional run scoring, it meant Gil went down as having allowed four runs in his four innings, coming on five hits and two walks.

In the sixth, the Yankees picked up a much-needed insurance run. Wells, already having one of his better games of the postseason, crushed a homer into the second deck in right field, putting the Yankees back up two.