The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the World Series on Saturday, but were left with the biggest possible question mark as the series headed to New York.
The good thing for the Dodgers was a big start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto against the New York Yankees, while Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández and Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman all homered off Yankees starter Carlos Rodón in a 4-2 win.
Yamamoto’s only hit allowed was a home run by Juan Soto in the third inning. He then retired eleven batters in a row, completing his biggest start since arriving in the United States. His final line: 6 1/3 innings, one hit, one earned run, two walks and four strikeouts. Just about all of his pitches worked, especially a splitter that drew four whiffs on seven swings.
The bad news for the Dodgers came in the seventh inning, when superstar Shohei Ohtani suffered a painful-looking shoulder injury while trying to steal second base. He left the field with an athletic trainer, and the Dodgers, plus the MLB league office, will hold their breath as Ohtani’s shoulder is examined.
Manager Dave Roberts called the injury postgame a “minor” subluxation. He said the team will do more tests, but the first signals were positive.
Things got even more stressful for the Dodgers when the Yankees got the tying run on base in the ninth against Blake Treinen, but Treinen struck out Anthony Volpe, then Alex Vesia came in to take the final out of the game and tie the score at 4. secured. 2 win after heavy Yankee traffic in the final frame.
Regardless of the tension, a 2-0 lead in the World Series is the better place to be, even if one of the game’s best players may be injured. It’s the Yankees’ backs that are against the wall now, and they’ll need a win on Monday with Clarke Schmidt on the mound against Walker Buehler in Game 3.
Here’s how it all went down on Yahoo Sports:
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Anthony Rizzo is hit by a pitch for the second time tonight.
The bases are loaded with Yankees. Only one more out.
This game featured ALL the Dodgers, and suddenly the Yankees are in danger of flipping the script.
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An eight-pitch battle between Treinen and Jazz Chisholm Jr. ends with a single to right.
The Yankees have two runners, still with one out.
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Stanton lasers a ball down the third base line. It hits the bag and bounces in the air, staying fair. Soto scores to make it 4-2.
Super weird bounce on that one, but the Yankees will be able to handle it. They need two more runs before two more outs.
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Judge strikes out AGAIN. His at-bats are starting to become difficult to watch.
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Soto goes to second base on a wild pitch. We’ve got a Yankee in scoring position.
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Soto bounces one off the wall in right field for his second big hit of the night – and the second hit of the night for the Yankees.
One on, none off. The Yankees need three runs.
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Blake Treinen tries to get the final three outs to cap off a 4-1 win for the Dodgers.
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The first word on Ohtani is a shoulder injury
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Mark Leiter Jr. is in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Yankees.
He gets three quick outs from Teoscar, Freeman and Edman. This one is almost wrapping up.
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Michael Kopech throws a quick, 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning to temporarily right the ship.
The Yankees still need their last three outs to avoid an 0-2 hole in this series.
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Ohtani walked off the field with a trainer. It appears he landed badly on his left arm during his slide.
He was already unlikely to have another at-bat in the game, so we’ll wait to see what the Dodgers share after the game. That could have been the biggest moment of this match.
