Yankees keep World Series alive as bats awaken for Game 4 win over Dodgers

The New York Yankees aren’t ready to call it a summer yet.

With their backs against the wall after dropping the first three games of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the American League champion prevailed Freddie Freeman’s latest October exploits and some unruly fan misbehavior to avoid elimination with an 11-4 win in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night.

The Yankees are still three games behind one in the best-of-seven Fall Classic, but their flickering championship hopes will hold on for at least one more day. Game 5 is Wednesday night in the Bronx.

The Dodgers appeared to be on their way to their first World Series sweep in twelve years from the top of the first inning, when Freeman hit a two-run shot off rookie starter Luis Gil into the short porch in right field, making him the first player was the one who homered. the first four games of an autumn classic. The 35-year-old first baseman and 2020 NL MVP set another record by homering in a sixth straight World Series game, dating back to Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021. The early salvo managed to run away to the crowd while catching the attention of NBA star and fellow Angelino LeBron James, who shared his appreciation on social media.

But from that point on, a dormant New York lineup that had hit an ice-cold .186 and collected seven total runs in the first three games burst into life. After scratching one back on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second inning, the Yankees loaded the bases against Daniel Hudson in the third and kicked in the door when Anthony Volpe hit a down-and-in slider into the first pitch launched 370 feet to the left. field stands. It was a childhood dream come true for the 23-year-old shortstop, who grew up a Yankee fan on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and attended their most recent World Series parade in 2009.

“I think I pretty much blacked out as soon as I saw him go over the fence,” said Volpe, who was New York’s first-round draft pick in 2019. “I think everyone was confident that everyone in the lineup was going to get the big hit. We’ve had such good at bats and put such good swings on the ball that we felt like it was just a matter of time.

For the first time in the series since Game 1 on Friday night, when Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, the Yankees held on as Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza . combined to spread one hit over five innings in relief of Gil, who gave up four runs on five hits in four innings of work. With three healthy starters remaining, Los Angeles used a bullpen game for the fourth time in the postseason, with Ben Casparius allowing one run on one hit and three walks in two innings before Hudson came in and Volpe couldn’t get in the park keep.

The Dodgers, who finished with six hits and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, came within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included a Will Smith homer and an RBI grounder by Freeman, who set up a potential opponent defeated. double play to get the run across. But Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres hit home runs for New York, which put the affair out of reach with a five-run eighth that sent the sold-out crowd of 49,354 into a state of euphoria.

“It was great that a lot of people got in on the act,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the New York one highest scoring World Series game in 46 years. “A lot of pitchers did really good things, really good defense. So good night to us and tomorrow we get another chance.”

It didn’t take long for Tuesday’s game to happen unexpectedly. Shortly after Freeman’s home run in the first inning, two spectators were ejected from the stadium after someone spiked the ball out of Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts’ glove as he tried to make a play.

Betts jumped the wall in foul territory and initially caught Torres’ pop-up in the bottom of the first, but a front row fan wearing a gray New York road jersey grabbed the Los Angeles star’s glove with both hands and jerked the ball. out. Torres was immediately called out for fan interference and the pair were escorted from the grounds by stadium security shortly afterwards.

History suggests things will turn out fine for the Dodgers. None of the previous 24 teams to face a 3-0 deficit in the World Series have been able to extend it to a Game 6, let alone come back to win. With Tuesday’s season-saving win, the Yankees became the first team in 54 years, and fourth overall, to avoid a sweep and force a fifth game. 1970 Cincinnati Redsthe New York Giants from 1937 and the 1910 Chicago Cubs.

The only team in Major League history to overturn a 3-0 deficit at any point in the postseason was the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, a comeback fueled by the Dodgers manager. Dave Roberts’ stolen base in Game 4.

The Yankees will send $324 million Gerrit Cole to the mound Wednesday night against the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty in a rematch of Game 1. Suddenly, this much-hyped showdown between once interborough rivals — their record-extending 12th World Series meeting but first in 43 years – could be more than the gilded mismatch it appeared to be on Tuesday morning.

“It’s going to take a lot,” Wells said. “No one has done what we are trying to achieve.”