Adrian Medina
Game 66, 6/8/24: Dodgers 11, Yankees 3
BRONX, NY — Round Two of this heavyweight matchup was close for much of the game, but then it was all Dodgers. After another solid start by Gavin Stone and a dominant offensive performance by Teoscar Hernández, the Dodgers rolled the Yanks 11-3 en route to securing the series win in this prime time matchup.
The man who broke open the scoring on Friday opened up the scoring again on Saturday as Teoscar Hernandez crushed a solo shot off New York starter Nestor Cortes in the second. As the ball sailed over the fence and into the cheering Dodgers’ bullpen, Teo quickly became Public Enemy #1 in New York. Little did we know how true this statement would come to be as the game went on.
But the Yanks showed that they had a little pushback in them in this one. In the bottom of the second, they tied the game off starter Gavin Stone. It wasn’t much to speak of, a run coming in the back door on a near-double play ball hit by catcher Austin Wells, but it was enough to erase the Dodgers’ advantage.
The Dodgers counterpunched in the next frame. After back-to-back singles by Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor, Shohei Ohtani broke through for his first RBI in this series as he singled in a run with a nice piece of opposite field hitting to take back the lead. But that lead would turn out to be short-lived as well. The home run leader, Aaron Judge, came to the plate and lifted his 22nd home run just barely over the left field wall. There was some intial confusion as the play went to replay review for possible fan interference, but the call on the field stood and the game was tied once more after three.
In the fifth, Kiké Hernandez took advantage of the short right-field wall and hit a homer of his own with a fastball away that he got all of, and we had ourselves a back-and-forth matchup with the Dodgers retaking the lead 3-2. Fun Fact: The Dodgers are the first team in MLB history to have two players named Hernández homer in the same game!
The Yankees flashed a bit of defense in the top of sixth to keep them in the game. With runners on first and third, DJ LeMahieu took a base hit away from Teoscar as he made a diving grab on a rocket down the third base line, which might have cleared the bases. Instead, the damage was only limited to one as the game was now 4-2.
Meanwhile, Gavin Stone was starting to run low on fuel. He had held the Bombers at bay for most of the game, pitching around quite a bit of traffic along the way. But when he loaded up the bases in the sixth, Dave Roberts strode to to mound to take the ball. It had been a good night for Stone: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Not quite as dominant as we saw him the last time he was in New York, but given this uber-talented Yankee lineup, it was a fine night. But he had to look on as the pen tried to clean up his mess.
Alex Vesia has been nails for LA recently and he proved it again tonight as he was tasked with picking up Stone with one out remaning in the sixth. He retired Anthony Volpe on a flyout to left to escape the inning scoreless and send the Dodgers back to the dugout with the lead intact. Vesia would then come back out in the seventh to retire the top of the Yanks lineup 1-2-3,lowering his 2024 ERA to a ridiculous 1.20. Since May 1, he has surrendered just one earned run in 13 appearances.
Then, in the eighth, the Dodgers blew the game wide open against former Dodger Tommy Kahnle. Following a Mookie Betts walk, Ohtani reaching on an error, and another walk to Will Smith, the Trolley Dodgers had the bases juiced. It was time for Public Enemy #1 to strike again. Teoscar delivered the killing blow by launching a go-ahead grand slam to put LA on top 8-2 and sent half of Yankee Stadium heading for the exits. It was career-high 6-RBI performance for Teoscar. And, more importantly, out of the 13 runs scored by the Dodgers in the past two days, Hernández has driven in eight of them.
LA hit the double-digit mark in runs in the ninth when they piled on another former Dodger, reliever Dennis Santana. Freddie Freeman drove in Betts from second with a two-out double for one. Then, after the Yanks waved the white flag, Santana was replaced on the mound by infielder Oswaldo Cabrera. Cabrera thew a bunch of lollipops to Dodger hitters and walked in a run before the inning came to a merciful close for the Yankee faithful.
The few fans that hung around for the bottom of the ninth, got something to cheer about when Aaron Judge hit his second home run of the game, this one off lefty Ryan Yarbrough. But Judge’s solo shot was way too little, way too late as the Dodgers recorded the final out of the game and crushed the Yankees with a final of 11-3.
What an overall great performance top to bottom! Starting pitching and the bullpen were the foundation for this win, pitching in big spots. The bottom of the lineup was producing offensively, and Teoscar Hernández is just having himself a series! The Dodgers will look to sweep New York Sunday at 4:10 PM PT (an ESPN Sunday Night broadcast). Both teams will deal their aces from the bottom of the deck in this highly anticipated pitching matchup as Tyler Glasnow will be on the bump for LA, and the Yankees will send out their rookie sensation Luis Gil. Great series win, Dodgers fans! Let’s get the sweep on Sunday!
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