NEW YORK — From lifeless Yankees at-bats to more suffocating dominance from the Dodgers rotation and Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles has cruised to a 3-0 World Series lead.
The Dodgers have backed the Yankees into the tightest and narrowest of uncomfortable corners, and are only 27 outs away from sweeping the American League’s top team to win a championship.
Here are our top four takeaways from the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 3 on Monday night in the Bronx.
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1. Is it too early to name the MVP?
He’s at it again.
Freddie Freeman, the hobbled first baseman who conjured memories of Kirk Gibson when he ended Game 1 in heroic fashion with a walk-off grand slam, then helped ensure the Dodgers took Game 2 with a solo shot, immediately took the life out of a crowd of 49,368 fans who were buzzing before the Yankees’ first home game in nearly two weeks by going deep again.
It was not only Freeman’s third straight game with a homer to begin the 2024 World Series, it was also his fifth straight World Series game with a home run dating back to the Braves’ championship run in 2021. He joined George Springer as the only players in MLB history to accomplish the latter feat.
The early blast, three batters into the night, not only stunned a stadium full of midnight navy blue and white but also allowed another Dodger dealing with physical limitations the chance to leisurely jog around the bases.
Shohei Ohtani, in his first game since suffering a subluxation of his left shoulder, did not look particularly comfortable. He wore a black harness on his left shoulder when he made the jog onto the field during player introductions, keeping his arm against his chest the whole time so as not to extend it. But in his first plate appearance of the night, the Yankees didn’t make him swing. A four-pitch walk gave him first base, where he continued to hold his left arm against his chest, making sure not to extend it. Freeman’s two-run blast ensured he would not need to sprint around the bases.
Through three games, Freeman has knocked in as many runs as the Yankees’ entire lineup. If you can name an MVP this early, there’s no doubt who would take home the honor. — Rowan Kavner
2. Giancarlo Stanton is still hitting but still not running
The buzz was back in the air after Nestor Cortes, making an appearance from the bullpen to face Ohtani, escaped a bases-loaded jam to end the third inning. After all, the Yankees were only trailing the Dodgers by three runs with a lot of game still left to play, and Aaron Judge was due up (and due) to atone for his disappointing World Series performance. After Judge wasted yet another opportunity by flying out to left, Stanton got the Yankees their first hit of the night with a double. Finally, things were cooking.
Anthony Volpe followed with what’s become a rare, clutch single to left that should have scored a run. The only problem was, one of the slowest players in the major leagues was the guy sauntering from second to home. As Teoscar Hernandez picked up the ball in left field, Stanton rounded third base in slow motion — like he was running underwater — and was thrown out by a perfect throw. The Yankees didn’t have a single at-bat with a runner on third the entire game.
Stanton’s complete absence of anything resembling speed after multiple lower-half injuries hurt the Yankees in the regular season. But it was a little surprising to learn that Stanton doesn’t even have another gear of speed for the World Series, especially given how he’s been able to lock in at the plate this postseason. The difference in athleticism between the Dodgers and Yankees is one reason among many that New York has found itself trying and failing to catch up with Los Angeles. — Deesha Thosar
3. Walker Buehler further cements his big-game rep
The second inning of Game 3 of the NLDS looked rough in the box score for Buehler, who was charged with six runs while being let down by his defense. Since then, he’s been flawless.
Buehler finished that game with three scoreless innings — vital work, considering the Dodgers would be utilizing a bullpen game the following day — then tossed four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLCS, getting more swings and misses than he had in any game since the 2021 season. On Monday, he added five more spotless frames to his ledger. The Yankees didn’t have a hit off him until a Stanton double in the fourth inning. Stanton was then thrown out by Hernández while trying to score from second on a single to left field. That extinguished the Yankees’ biggest threat against Buehler, who has now fired 12 straight scoreless innings.
In his three career World Series starts, Buehler has allowed just one run and struck out 22 in 18 innings.
After a rocky regular season in which he struggled to miss bats and exhibited shaky command coming off a second Tommy John surgery, he has again found another level in October and earned his reputation as a big-game pitcher. — Kavner
4. Clarke Schmidt picked a bad day to have a bad day
Schmidt only being able to last 2.2 innings isn’t what sunk the Yankees in Game 3 (we can credit their lack of offense for that), but it certainly didn’t help. When the 1996 Yankees fell behind 0-2 to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, David Cone’s incredible Game 3 start (six innings of one-run ball) is what galvanized the club to its championship comeback. The tone is always set by dominant pitching, and in that department, Schmidt picked a bad day to lose his command.
The relentless Dodgers lineup that doesn’t expand the zone forced Schmidt to work up his pitch count, resulting in his shortest start since August … of 2023. Los Angeles never allowed Schmidt to settle in, because its third batter of the night parked a two-run shot off of him. Schmidt’s early exit forced Yankees manager Aaron Boone to go to his bullpen, and to its credit, New York’s relievers wiggled out of catastrophic damage multiple times. It was the Yankees lineup that, once again, fell flat. — Thosar
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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