The New York Yankees aren’t ready to bid farewell to the season yet. Finding themselves in a precarious position after successive losses in the first three World Series matches to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the victors of the American League managed to negate Freddie Freeman’s impressive October performance and unmanageable spectator conduct to circumvent elimination with a victory of 11-4 in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday evening.
While still lagging behind with a three to one scoreline in the best-of-seven Fall Classic, the Yankees keep their championship aspirations alive, ensuring a survival for at least another day. Game 5 is set to take place on Wednesday evening in the Bronx.
With Freeman’s two-run hit in the opening inning, the Dodgers seemed destined to record the first clean sweep in a World Series in over a decade. Freeman also made history as the first player to score a home run in the first four games of a Fall Classic. The former 2020 NL MVP continued his record-breaking streak by hitting a home run in a sixth consecutive World Series match, a feat dating back to Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021.
However, the tide turned when the Yankee batting line-up, which had previously struggled with an underwhelming .186 average and total of seven runs in the first three games, came alive. Having managed to score one via Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second inning, the Yankees quickly seized their opportunity when bases were loaded against Daniel Hudson in the third. The pivotal moment arrived when Anthony Volpe sent a first-pitch slider soaring 390 feet into the left-field stands. It was a surreal moment for the 23-year-old shortstop, a lifelong Yankee supporter and attendee of their most recent World Series parade in 2009.
“Euphoria hit me as soon as I saw it clear the fence,” shared Volpe, who was chosen as New York’s first-round draft pick in 2019. “Everyone in the line-up had the belief that the crucial hit was imminent. We’ve been delivering strong at-bats and taking solid swings, so we felt it was just a question of when, not if.”
In the series’ first lead since Game 1 on the preceding Friday evening, where Freeman scored the first ever World Series walk-off grand slam, the Yankees held their nerve. After Gil conceded four runs on five hits across four innings, relievers Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr, Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza allowed only one hit across the following five innings. The Dodgers had to adopt a bullpen game strategy for the fourth time this postseason due to the absence of three healthy starters. Ben Casparius could only limit the damage to one run on a single hit and three walks in his two innings before Hudson was called on, but was unable to restrain Volpe from scoring.
With just six hits, the Dodgers managed to close the gap to 6-4, initiated by a Will Smith home run and an RBI ground by Freeman who managed to avoid a probable double play and score. However, Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres increased the Yankees’ advantage with additional home runs and a five-run eighth inning secured the game convincingly, eliciting sheer delight from the full house crowd of 49,354.
Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, commented after the team’s highest scoring World Series game in 46 years, “Superb to see numerous individuals contribute, our pitchers performed excellently as did our defenders. An overall splendid evening for us and we’re excited for tomorrow’s opportunity.”
Tuesday’s match was full of surprises from the beginning. After Freeman’s opening home run, two spectators were forcefully removed from the venue after one fan snatched the ball from Dodgers’ right fielder, Mookie Betts’, glove during an attempted catch. Betts had initially managed to catch a Torres’ pop-up in the first inning’s closure, however, a supporter wearing a grey New York shirt in the front row seized Betts’ glove with both hands and forced the ball out. The immediate result was Torres being announced out due to fan interference and subsequently, the spectators involved were ejected by stadium security.
History reveals it’s likely the Dodgers will pull through just fine. No team among the prior 24, facing a 3-0 deficit in the World Series, have managed to push it to a sixth game, let alone bounce back to win. Tuesday’s clutch victory saw the Yankees break a 54-year streak, becoming the fourth team ever to prevent a clean sweep and push for a fifth game, joining the 1970 Cincinnati Reds, the 1937 New York Giants, and the 1910 Chicago Cubs.
The only team in Major League history able to reverse a 3-0 deficit in any post-season stage was the Boston Red Sox, who achieved this feat against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, ignited by a stolen base in game four by Dave Roberts, the current Dodgers’ manager.
The Yankees are set to field $324m star Gerrit Cole Wednesday night as they face Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty in a replay of Game 1. Suddenly, this widely talked about showdown between the former interborough rivals, in their record-breaking 12th World Series meeting and their first in 43 years, may turn out to be more evenly matched than previously thought on Tuesday morning.
Wells remarked, “The task ahead is monumental, no one has done what we’re setting out to achieve.” – Guardian.