Los Angeles Headlines

LOS ANGELES, California (WABC) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto surrendered only one hit across 6 1/3 innings, Freddie Freeman hit a home run for the second consecutive night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers smashed three early home runs off Carlos Rodón to defeat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday, extending their World Series lead to 2-0.

Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández also contributed with home runs for the Dodgers, who saw their star player Shohei Ohtani leave the field with an injury to his left arm at the conclusion of the seventh inning.

As the Yankees managed to reduce the deficit to 4-2 with Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single in the ninth against Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia came in with the bases loaded and got pinch-hitter Jose Trevino to fly out on the first pitch for the save.

Yamamoto allowed a home run to Juan Soto in the third inning but then retired his final 11 batters and 15 of the last 16 he faced.

Soto also managed a single in the ninth and scored on Stanton’s one-out hit that deflected off the third-base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Treinen then struck out Anthony Volpe before Vesia took over.

Ohtani suffered his left arm injury while making a feet-first slide in an attempt to steal second base, which ended the seventh inning.

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Historically, 45 of the 56 teams with a 2-0 World Series lead have gone on to win the championship.

Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and is now batting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 at-bats during the postseason.

Soto’s equalizing homer on an inside fastball marked the only run that Yamamoto allowed in two starts and 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees this season. He exited to a large ovation and offered a subtle tip of his cap to the fans as he walked to the dugout.

Yamamoto joined the Dodgers last December on a historic 12-year, $325 million contract, the largest ever for a pitcher, and has partnered with Ohtani to generate significant interest in Major League Baseball back in Japan.

Yamamoto was out of action from June 15 to September 10 due to a strained rotator cuff, and this performance marked his best start since returning from injury.

In his longest outing since pitching in the Bronx, Yamamoto struck out four batters and walked two, showcasing a five-pitch mix that included curveballs, splitters, sliders, and cutters. He improved his postseason record to 2-0 over four starts.

He delivered his best performance of the regular season at Yankee Stadium in June, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless innings. Hernández hit three home runs and recorded nine RBIs during that three-game series.

Fresh off hitting the first walk-off grand slam in Series history the previous night, which overturned a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning for a 6-3 win, Edman put the Dodgers in front with a solo home run in the second inning.

After Soto leveled the score, Mookie Betts hit a two-out single in the bottom half, and Hernández, breaking a 3-for-27 slump, hit a home run into the right-center pavilion.

Freeman, who hadn’t homered since September 16 prior to Friday, received loud cheers before each at-bat. He worked a full count before hitting a home run to right-center.

Despite playing on a sprained right ankle, Freeman has now homered in four consecutive Series games, dating back to Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021, just one shy of the record held by George Springer of the Astros.

All three Dodgers home runs came off fastballs from Rodón, who surrendered 31 home runs during the regular season, the second-most in the major leagues. Los Angeles achieved back-to-back Series homers for only the second time—previously accomplished by Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager against Yankees lefty Ron Guidry in Game 5 of 1981.

Rodón allowed four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Los Angeles gained a 2-0 Series lead for the first time since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley won the opener and Orel Hershiser followed with a three-hit shutout. The Yankees have found themselves 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they came back to win three straight at home but ultimately lost Games 6 and 7 in Arizona.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt and Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler are set to start on Monday. Schmidt boasts a 3.86 ERA over two postseason starts, with no-decisions in Game 3s against Kansas City and Cleveland. Buehler has also made two Game 3 starts, giving up six runs in five innings during a 6-5 loss to San Diego and pitching four scoreless innings in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets.