NEW YORK — As far as the New York Yankees are concerned, all that remains is a miracle.
The Los Angeles Dodgers came within one win of their second World Series championship in five years and eighth overall with a 4-2 win in Game 3 on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. In fact, no team facing that hole has ever forced a seventh game.
As is usually the case in the postseason, pitching and timely hitting told the story in Game 3. Dodgers starter Walker Buehler threw five excellent innings, while his counterpart, the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt, struggled with his command from the start and was ahead of him. the end of the third.
Schmidt made the biggest start of his young career and didn’t seem ready at this point. With one out in the first inning and Shohei Ohtani on first thanks to a walk, the 28-year-old right-hander threw a 1-2 fastball into Freddie Freeman’s wheelhouse, which pulled the veteran first baseman into the seats. tied for his third home run of the series.
Things got even worse for Schmidt in the third. With one out, Mookie Betts fought off several pitches before hitting a single to right for Juan Soto, scoring Tommy Edman, who had walked to open the frame. Freeman followed with a walk and with two outs, Max Muncy worked another free pass to load the bases and end Schmidt’s night after 68 pitches. Mark Leiter Jr. however, came on and bounced Will Smith back to the mound, leaving the score at 3-0.
Leiter proved not immune to the free run as he set up Gavin Lux to open the fourth. Kiké Hernandez followed with a single to right, sending Lux to third base. Edman then laid down a squeeze bunt, but Leiter turned the ball to catcher Jose Trevino, who tagged out Lux. The Dodgers challenged, but the replay wasn’t enough to overturn the decision.
Nestor Cortes came on and ended the threat by striking out Ohtani on a 3-2 slider and sending Betts flying out to left.
The Yankees, meanwhile, battled Buehler mightily, managing only a pair of walks from Gleyber Torres in the first three innings. The frustration really intensified in the fourth, when Giancarlo Stanton, after hitting a one-out double to left, was gunned down at home by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez on a two-out single by Anthony Volpe.
Buehler was removed after five innings despite throwing only 76 pitches. However, the Dodgers have a deep bullpen and they showed it, limiting the Yankees to just three hits the rest of the way.
The Dodgers made it 4-0 in the sixth. With one out, Yankees reliever Jake Cousins hit Lux, who then stole second base and scored on Hernandez’s single up the middle.
Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to cut the Yankees’ deficit to two, but Torres grounded out to short to end it.
Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:08 PM, with rookie right-hander Luis Gil tasked with keeping the Yankees’ season alive. The Dodgers are expected to throw a bullpen game and save Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty as the series progresses.
