LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are halfway to a championship in this World Series, dispatching the New York Yankees in Game 2 on Saturday, 4-2, behind one-hit pitching from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and three home runs from their offense.
Dodgers flex their dominance against lefties
There wasn’t a better team in the majors against left-handed pitching this season than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who paced the big leagues with a .795 OPS and a 121 wRC+. The improvements were obvious, from their existing production (right-handed hitting Mookie Betts) to left-handed hitters good enough to overcome a platoon split (Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman). Then two other acquisitions made crushing lefties their specialty.
The most recent was Tommy Edman, the NLCS MVP. The switch-hitter has been better from the right side for his career, but it’s been even more pronounced since the Dodgers acquired him at the deadline. He hit .412 with four homers in 34 at-bats against left-handers during the regular season, with a 1.299 OPS.
Teoscar Hernández was signed to mash, especially against lefties. He hit a career-high 33 home runs this season while remaining dominant against southpaws (.931 OPS).
Those players contributed to a dismantling of Carlos Rodón, who allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings in part due to home runs from Edman, Hernández and Freeman.
Where’s Aaron Judge?
As Yogi Berra might have said, it’s getting late early for Aaron Judge.
Judge disappointed again, going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts. A night earlier, he went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Entering the night, he was hitting .167 (6-for-36) with a measly .665 OPS this postseason and he’s often looked about as bad as the numbers suggest.
Through his first three at-bats, Judge swung and missed five times against Yamamoto, twice on a slider and once each on a curveball, fastball and a splitter. He kept guessing all night.
Earlier in the day, Judge was voted Players Choice American League Outstanding Player and the Player of the Year by the Major League Baseball Players Association. He’ll likely win his second MVP for hitting 58 home runs in the regular season. None of that matters now.
Before Game 1, Judge did a TV interview with Derek Jeter, the last Yankees captain who guided the team to five World Series wins. He talked about bringing another championship back to New York. The Yankees are in a 15-year drought.
If Judge can’t turn it on, it’ll be 16 years soon.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto evokes his June dominance
It took until the World Series for Yamamoto to do something he had not done since June: pitch into the sixth inning. A strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder halted a dominant stretch, highlighted by seven scoreless innings against this same Yankees club on June 7.
Yamamoto has shown flashes since but finally returned to the whole package. His fastball velocity popped early — 98 mph with his first pitch — even if some apparent nerves sapped his typical command. That showed itself in the third inning when Will Smith set up outside for a two-strike fastball to Juan Soto; when Yamamoto missed belt-high and inside, Soto pummeled it.
It was the only hit Yamamoto allowed in 6 1/3 innings and the last base runner he allowed as he sorted his command. The diminutive right-hander stood tall on the game’s grandest stage.
Rodón struggles as Dodgers catch up to fastball
The Yankees needed the Rodón from Game 1 of the ALCS to show up Saturday night against a potent Dodgers lineup. Instead, the 2023 version of Rodón appeared.
He lasted just 3 1/3 innings after allowing three home runs and four total runs, putting the Yankees in an early 4-1 hole. The Dodgers tagged Rodón in the third inning with two outs. It started with Betts lining a single, followed by a two-run blast from Hernández, a solo shot from Freeman, and a double by Edman.
Rodón has mentioned on several occasions that he needs to control his emotions better when facing adversity on the mound. In the first inning, Rodón made quick work of the Dodgers using his fastball, his go-to pitch. When the lineup turned over the second time, the top-of-the-order was all over his four-seamer and Rodón did not adjust. Hernández’s and Freeman’s back-to-back homers came off Rodón’s fastball.
Home runs have been Rodón’s biggest problem since becoming a Yankee. He gave up the second most during the regular season (only Boston Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford allowed more). At this point, expecting Rodón to keep the ball in the yard is a big ask.
(Top photo of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Aaron Judge: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
