Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani gets hurt going to second base during the seventh inning of Game 2 of baseball’s World Series against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Los Angeles.
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Ashley Landis/AP/AP
LOS ANGELES — Yoshinobu Yamamoto walked back to his dugout and tipped his hat to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series.
But the Dodgers head into New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani will be able to play after he partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base.
“We’re going to get some testing tonight, sometime tomorrow, and we’ll know more over the next couple of days,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The strength was great. The range of motion was good. So we’re encouraged.”
Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez left off starter Carlos Rodon, who tied the Yankees’ World Series record by allowing three home runs.
New York got a hit before the ninth, Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single against Blake Drennan to make it 4-2 for the Yankees. Anthony Volpe walked with the bases loaded, and Alex Vecia came on to retire pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on a first-pitch flyout for his first save of the season.
“When I think of my front yard, that’s what we envision,” Vecia said.
Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Of the 56 teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in the World Series, 45 have won the title.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s been a long streak and now we have to make it a long streak. We won’t hesitate.
Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He is 1 for 9 in the series, hitting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.
“We are expanding the zone. That’s what it really comes down to,” Judge said. “I think it’s trying to do things instead of letting the game come to you. … Plain and simple, I’ve got to start swinging at strikes.”
Yamamoto spurned the Yankees last December and joined the Dodgers on a $325 million, 12-year contract, a record for pitchers, joining Ohtani in creating record interest in major league baseball back in Japan.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first inning against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of baseball’s World Series, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Los Angeles.
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The rookie right-hander threw seven scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on June 7, but was sidelined from June 15 to September 10 with a rotator cuff. This was his best start since the injury.
Yamamoto gave up Juan Soto’s third-inning homer, then retired his last 11 batters.
“He was made for those moments,” Hernandez said. “He was doing it in Japan before he came here, and when he came here, he was doing it here.”
Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a five-pitch sequence that included curves, splitters, sliders and cutters. He went 2-0 in four postseason starts.
“It’s a mixed feeling because I was looking forward to it so (more) and I was happy, but then I realized that I started trying to focus,” Yamamoto said through a translator.
Soto’s fourth postseason homer, an inside fastball, was Yamamoto’s only run allowed in two starts and 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees this year.
Soto also scored on Stanton’s one-out base hit off third-base back over the right-field wall in the ninth. Josh Chisholm Jr. singled and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, loading the bases.
But the rally ended there.
“It’s everything to me, playing on the highest stage with the two biggest teams you can play with, the biggest franchises, the most history,” Vecia said.
On a night when Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in series history to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 victory with two outs in the 10th inning, Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a second shot.
After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernandez walked into the right-center pavilion on a 3-for-27 slide. Freeman, who hadn’t gone deep since Sept. 16 before Friday, went full count and moved back to right center.
Playing in Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021 with a sprained right ankle, Freeman has played in four straight games. It was one shy of the feat accomplished by Astros outfielder George Springer.
Freeman had six days off to enter the World Series.
“I was able to stabilize my ankle,” he said. “I’m really confident in the flight tonight – I’m really pumped in the flights – so hopefully we can take it down tomorrow and get in a good spot for Game 3.”
All three Dodgers homers came on Roden’s fastballs, and his 31 longballs allowed in the regular season ranked second in the major leagues. Los Angeles had back-to-back series homers for the second time since Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager combined against Yankees lefty Ron Guidry for a 2-1 win in Game 5 in 1981.
Rhoden gave up four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He had just one swing and missed on his fastball.
Los Angeles took a 2-0 series lead for the first time since 1988 when Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley won the opener and Orel Hershiser followed with a three-hit shutout. The Yankees are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they have won three straight at home and lost Games 6 and 7 in Arizona.
Ohtani’s MRI and confirmation of his availability is eagerly awaited by the Dodgers and their fans.
“Not only the dugout, but the whole arena went quiet,” Hernandez said. “He’s fine and hopefully tomorrow’s off Monday will help him get back on the field.”