Cody Snavely
To quote Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández from the 2020 World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, only one team is waking up one win away from clinching the World Series, and again, that team in the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are one measly win away from becoming champions.
Despite the 2024 World Series shifting back to the East Coast to the Bronx, where the Yankees will host their first World Series game since 2009, the Dodgers will play spoiler after Freddie Freeman‘s two-run home run in the top of the first inning.
The Dodgers would never look back after that, and right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler would put together one of his best starts of the 2024 season, pitching five scoreless innings against the best offense in the American League.
The Dodgers enter this game with all the cards. They’re in the driver’s seat and have the option to go with a traditional bullpen game or give one of their bulk inning guys the starts, such as Landon Knack or Ben Casparius.
No matter what the Dodgers do, the New York Yankees’ backs are against the wall, and all the pressure is on the Bronx Bombers not to get swept at home in front of their fans.
Despite the Yankees staring at a 3-0 series deficit, with one loss being the end of their season, they will not be starting right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole on three days’ rest; instead, they will go with rookie right-handed pitcher Luis Gil.
No team in Major League Baseball history has overcome a 0-3 deficit in the World Series, and the only team to do it in the postseason was the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who famously overcame their 0-3 hole against the New York Yankees.
The World Series hasn’t ended in a sweep since 2012, by the Giants over the Tigers. The Dodgers have one best-of-seven sweep: the 1963 World Series over the Yankees.
On the rubber
TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Luis Gil (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
No starter has been announced yet for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but one can expect that all arms will be available for this bullpen game. I’d bet that the team tries to use rookie right-handed pitchers Landson Knack and Ben Casparius to each get 2 to 3 innings and pave the way for the high-leverage arms to close it out.
Knack has not appeared since game two of the National League Championship Series, and Casparius has not pitched in this World Series, so both are fresh.
So far this October, the Dodgers bullpen has been their strength, posting a 3.16 ERA in 68.1 innings pitched, and will be asked to potentially get twenty-seven more outs and possibly clinch a World Series title.
The New York Yankees season is now in the hands of rookie right-handed pitcher Luis Gil, who will take the ball in game four of the 2024 World Series.
So far this postseason, Gil has only made one start, giving up two runs in four innings of work against the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship series.
It will be the second time Gil has faced the Dodgers this season after starting one of the three games in June when the Dodgers came to town.
Gil allowed three runs on five hits in 5.2 innings of work in that start but allowed a home run to Teoscar Hernández.
The pressure will be on, as it will be up to Gil to set the tone and reenergize not only the Yankees crowd but also the team itself.
Who to watch?
For the New York Yankees, the player I am watching is the entire offense because despite preventing the shutout with Alex Verdugo‘s two-out two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, they have been a shell of themselves with the big egg being laid by all-star center fielder Aaron Judge.
Judge’s struggles have been well documented. The right-handed monster is 6-for-43 (.140 AVG) with twenty strikeouts, and despite making solid contact off Walker Buehler, the American League Most Valuable Player Award favorite went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Overall, the Yankees have still been able to put runners on, but where they have struggled is situational hitting, and that was on full display last night, where the Yankees went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight men on base.
It was the same story in the first two games, where the Yankees went a combined 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, I will also be watching their offense as they hold the keys to how this game will be managed.
As we discussed on yesterday’s Bleed Los Podcast postgame livestream, if the Dodgers get a lead early, we could see Dodgers manager Dave Roberts go for the kill, deploying all of his high-leverage arms to hold that lead to finish the job.
If the offense lays an egg and the Dodgers are down by a few runs, we could see Roberts save hit bullets for another day.
Where to watch
The World Series will be exclusively broadcast on Fox Sports One (FS1) or Fox.
Dodgers play-by-play broadcast announcer Joe Davis will join Atlanta Braves legend John Smoltz on the call as the primetime Fox baseball crew will broadcast this series.
First pitch for game five is set for 5:08 PM PT at Yankee Stadium.
Betting Odds
The Dodgers are +120 moneyline underdogs in this matchup against the favorite Yankees (-142). New York is a 1.5-run favorite (at +136 odds). An 8.5-run total has been listed in the matchup.
The Dodgers are also favored in the win probability at 51% compared to the Yankees at 49%.
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