The Los Angeles Dodgers continued to keep the New York Yankees off balanced. The bullpen and batters execute a 4-2 victory, taking a resounding 2-0 lead in the World Series.
Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched for 6.1 innings, striking out four and only allowing one hit. The last time he competed for over six innings was on June 7 in an away game against the Yankees.
“For me, watching how he’s holding the baseball, there wasn’t much stress in the game,” said Dodgers general manager Dave Roberts. “He was throwing up to 76 pitches, so I felt we had a good building block, foundation.”
Roberts wanted him to touch the seventh inning. When Yamamoto was subbed out for Anthony Banda, the Dodgers had a 4-1 lead.
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Tommy Edman started off the Dodgers with a home run in the second but Juan Soto evened the score with a homer in the following inning.
The bottom of the third was when the Dodgers began slugging with Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman hitting dingers. The two-run homerun that Hernández hit was his first World Series homerun.
“My first at-bat, I missed it a little bit, a fastball, up and away,” Hernández said. “Then, I got to my next at bat; it was stable a little bit and just trying to hit it to right center. Get a lot of drive to right center.”
Roberts complimented the skills of the scoring hits. Both batters scored on a four-seam fastball pitched by Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón. Freeman connected on a pitch that was going 96mph.
“I thought [Hernández] just missed clipping him earlier and got a fastball belt line and really put a great swing on it,” Roberts said. “[Freeman] … it’s one thing to turn around 92 but 97 and up and in, that’s a different monster.”
Aaron Judge was struck out three times in the contest, however Giancarlo Stanton still found ways to score. He slugged an RBI single in the ninth as the Bronx Bombers were finding momentum. He ultimately became a runner on third with bases loaded with Blake Treinen on the mound.
Roberts wanted to bring in Alex Vesia at the right time.
“I was trying to get him through to [Anthony] Volpe,” Roberts said. “I felt that [Treinen] had enough stuff to get Volpe in that spot.”
The World Series now heads east with the Dodgers facing the Yankees in Game Three on October 28 at 5:08P.M.
