NEW YORK -- The Dodgers are one win away from the eighth World Series championship in franchise history, and the seventh since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. At Yankee Stadium Monday night, the Dodgers beat the Yankees in Game 3 (LA 4, NY 2) to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Fall Classic. Los Angeles now has four chances to win one game.
Going into Game 3, the biggest question was Shohei Ohtani, specifically his left shoulder. He partially dislocated it on a slide in Game 2 and favored it throughout Game 3 -- Ohtani held his jersey while running the bases as a makeshift sling -- but did play, and drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the game. There's no reason to think the presumptive NL MVP will miss Game 4 on Tuesday.
Here now are a few takeaways from Game 3.
1. Freeman is on his way to World Series MVP
The four days off between the NLCS and World Series seem to have done a world of good for Freddie Freeman's sprained right ankle. He hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 1, went deep again in Game 2, and then again in Game 3. Freeman opened the scoring Monday with a two-run first inning homer into Yankee Stadium's short right field porch:
Going back to 2021 with the Braves, Freeman has homered in five straight World Series games, tying George Springer (2017-19) for the longest such streak in baseball history. He has one fewer extra-base hit (four) in the World Series than the Yankees (four). Keep in mind Freeman had zero extra base hits in the NLDS and NLCS. He looks like Freddie Freeman for the first time this postseason.
With a 3-0 series lead and three homers to his name, Freeman is about as close to a lock for World Series MVP as you can be at this point in a series. And this really is the story of the series. The Dodgers' stars are playing like stars, and the Yankees' stars are not. Los Angeles is also playing better defense, getting better starting pitching, and getting more from the bottom of the lineup. So yeah.
2. Buehler's day on
Walker Buehler was not the Walker Buehler we're used to seeing after he returned from his second Tommy John surgery earlier this year. His stuff was diminished, his control was scattershot, and the result was a 5.38 ERA and .787 OPS allowed in 16 regular season starts. It's fair to wonder whether Buehler would have even been in the postseason rotation if, say, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw were healthy.
In Game 3, Walker Buehler was the Walker Buehler we've come to expect in October. The man who had a 1.43 postseason ERA from 2019-20 held the Yankees to two hits and two walks in five shutout innings Monday night. He struck out five and was ahead in the count all night, throwing a first pitch strike to 12 of 18 batters. Buehler carved the Yankees up with cutters, curveballs, and even some straight gas four-seam fastballs, a pitch that gave him problems during the regular season.
The Padres tagged Buehler for six runs in the second inning of Game 3 of the NLDS, though, to be fair, his defense did him no favors. Since that six-run inning, Buehler has thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings spanning three starts. His stuff has ticked up too. Both his curveball and sweeper had their best movement of the season last two times out.
On paper, the Yankees had the starting pitching advantage coming into the World Series, and not by a little either. The Dodgers have seven -- seven! -- starters on the MLB injured list and they have a bullpen game lined up for Game 4 because they don't have a viable fourth starter right now. Three games into the series though, it is advantage Dodgers:
| IP | H | R | BB | K | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dodgers SP | 16 2/3 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 2 |
Yankees SP | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
Those Yankees numbers are with Gerrit Cole allowing one run in six innings (plus one batter) in Game 1. Clarke Schmidt walked four batters and allowed three runs in 2 ⅔ innings in Game 3. That's after Carlos Rodón allowed three homers and four runs in 3 ⅓ innings in Game 2. As bad as New York's offense has been, the starting pitching advantage has not materialized at all.
3. Ohtani is not 100%
I mean, duh. The guy's left shoulder popped out of its socket in Game 2 -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed it had to be put in place after Ohtani exited the game -- and his swings looked uncomfortable in Game 3. He held his jersey while running the bases to make sure he didn't make it in a way that would make things worse!
Between Freeman's ankle, Ohtani's shoulder, all the starting pitcher injuries, and who knows what else, the Dodgers are far from 100% this postseason. And yet, they are one win away from a World Series. The roster is deep enough that others picked up the slack, and they're well-coached too. The Dodgers are inevitable, even with Freeman and Ohtani hobbled.
4. Up next
A potential World Series clincher. Or perhaps the first game of a historic comeback. Either way, it's Game 4 of the World Series, and the Dodgers are one win away from a championship. Historically, teams with a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series have won 39 of 40 times. The one series loss is, of course, the Red Sox overcoming the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. The Yankees will send rookie Luis Gil to the mound in Game 4 on Tuesday to try to save their season. The Dodgers will counter with a bullpen game.