By Fabian Ardaya, Tyler Kepner, Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty
NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Dodgers arrived in the Bronx on Monday with their cleats at the throats of the New York Yankees. They pressed down early in Game 3 of the World Series, and now they’ve all but squeezed the life from their cross-country rivals.
With Freddie Freeman drilling a two-run homer in the first and Walker Buehler dazzling for five innings, the Dodgers stormed to a 4-2 victory and a three games to none lead in the 120th World Series. They can clinch the eighth championship in franchise history – and second in the last five seasons – with a victory in Game 4 on Tuesday.
The Yankees managed just five hits off Buehler and six relievers, and Aaron Judge struggled again, going 0 for 3 with a walk to drop his average to .083 (1 for 12) in this World Series.
Walker Buehler’s night on
Walker Buehler’s defining moment in the National League Championship Series came when he went against what was his modus operandi: with the bases loaded early, he got Francisco Lindor to swing through a full-count curveball rather than throw him a fastball. At this stage of his career, after a second Tommy John surgery, Buehler could not rear back and bully hitters with his fastball.
Except when it’s playing like it did in the World Series on Monday night. The Yankees swung at 13 of Buehler’s 34 fastballs, and missed on six of those swings. Buehler commanded it well, and shielded it with his curveball and sweeper.
But the pitch had seemingly more life on it than any start in recent memory. At least one person who had seen several Buehler starts over the years noted that Buehler’s fastball on Monday was the best the pitch had looked for him since his surgery in 2022; as The Athletic’s Eno Sarris pointed out, Buehler had his best Stuff+ of the season in his last start against the Mets.
At least once, Buehler was able to bully one of the Yankees’ best. In the first inning, Buehler started Aaron Judge with a fastball over the middle that Judge was late on. He got strike two when Judge was late again and fouled a fastball at the top of the zone. He played off that with two strikes, getting Judge to swing through a cutter off the plate for a strikeout. That looked something like the Buehler of old.
Questionable decision backfires for Yankees
Was it a bad send? Was it the right call?
Third base coach Luis Rojas waved home cement-footed Giancarlo Stanton as he rounded third base on Anthony Volpe’s single to left field with two outs in the fourth inning and the Yankees down, 3-0.
Left fielder Teoscar Hernández’s throw beat Stanton by a foot and he was tagged out.
DON’T RUN ON TEO #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/BrZ51pxFIw
— MLB (@MLB) October 29, 2024
On one hand, Stanton was the last player any Yankees fan wanted to see going home on an aggressive send. He frequently cruise controls his way around the bases, trying not to suffer yet another one of the lower-body injuries that have dogged him in recent years. It was strange to see the Yankees trust his speed and trust that he wouldn’t hurt himself. He’s been their most clutch hitter in the playoffs. They can’t let him get hurt.
On the other hand, it took a perfect throw from Hernández, who doesn’t have a good arm. Plus, the next three hitters up for the Yankees were Anthony Rizzo, Jose Trevino and Alex Verdugo. They’re not exactly scaring the Dodgers. Rojas probably felt like he needed to force in a run, and that if Hernández made a better-than-usual throw, so be it. Well, it happened, and the move backfired, ending the inning at the plate instead of leaving a runner on third base with two outs.
The Yankees were the worst base-running team in the majors in the regular season, according to Fangraphs’ base running runs above average metric.
Freeman’s heroics have gone beyond Game 1
Sometime last week, Daniel Hudson and Chris Taylor stood in left field during batting practice as Freddie Freeman peppered them with baseballs. Even before he broke his finger in August and sprained his ankle in September, Freeman had struggled to find any consistency with his swing. Until he incorporated a new mental cue that has seemingly freed everything up.
There were the heroics in Game 1. Freeman homered again in Game 2 as the Dodgers jumped on Carlos Rodón. When Clarke Schmidt tried to elevate a two-strike cutter against him in the first inning of Game 3, Freeman showed the strength of his swing (and his ankle) with his ability once again to turn on it. It hooked out over the short porch in right field before one could say Kirk Gibson, and thrust him into history. Only three players ever (Barry Bonds in 2002, Hank Bauer in 1958) have now homered in each of the first three games of a World Series, and Freeman – who homered in each of the last two games of the 2021 World Series with Atlanta – matched George Springer’s record for most consecutive World Series games with a home run (five).
It’s astounding that Freeman, who did not have an extra-base hit after spraining his ankle entering this Series, could wind up as its MVP. But Freeman appears to have found something in his swing that has eluded him all year.
Schmidt fails to deliver for the Yankees
Ten teams in World Series history have erased an 0-2 deficit and each of those matchups have one thing in common: They received an ace-like performance from their Game 3 starter. Clarke Schmidt did not deliver for the Yankees when they needed him most.
Schmidt was arguably the Yankees’ most dependable starter this season when healthy. A Schmidt start almost guaranteed the Yankees five or six innings pitched with three runs or fewer allowed. In Game 3 on Monday, Schmidt lasted just 2 2/3 innings before getting pulled. Freeman’s home run in the first inning and a lack of his usual sharp command doomed him early as Schmidt’s four walks are tied for the second most he’s allowed this season.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone always says Schmidt is the most confident player in their clubhouse. On Monday, that confidence was non-existent in a game the Yankees needed to win.
Yankees’ bats silent once again
The Yankees’ offense has scored seven total runs through the first three games of the World Series. The Dodgers’ pitching staff has neutralized the Yankees’ bats.
In Game 3, the Yankees finished with just five total hits. Stanton’s double in the fourth inning and Alex Verdugo’s two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning were the only extra-base hits the Yankees had Monday night.
One of the focuses for the Yankees this past offseason was becoming more contact-oriented. Anthony Volpe sacrificed his power to become a singles hitter. Anthony Rizzo can no longer drive the ball and has been rendered a contact bat. Verdugo was lauded for his bat-to-ball skills when acquired, but he’s been one of MLB’s worst hitters this season. Even Gleyber Torres, one of the Yankees’ best hitters over the past several months, has lost power from last season.
The Yankees’ inability to hit the ball over the fence like the Dodgers have so far is one of the reasons why they’re down 3-0 in the World Series. It’s hard to imagine their bats coming alive over the next four games to stage a historic comeback.
(Top photo of Walker Buehler: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
