Steve Webb
World Series Game 2, 10/26/2024: Dodgers 4, Yankees 2
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — There’s a reason you pay a guy $300 million. Nights like this are the reason. Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the start in Game 2 and was absolutely on point, pitching into the sixth and allowing just one hit. The Dodgers got four runs early on a trio of homers, and put the Yankees away with great relief in the middle innings. Things got dicey when they tried to milk a little too much out of Blake Treinen in the ninth and the Yankees loaded up the bases. However, they got away with the victory and head to New York with a commanding 2-0 series lead. The lone downer of the evening was the injury sustained by Shohei Ohtani late in the game on an attempted steal.
The game started relatively quietly with a couple of zeroes on the scoreboard in the first from Yamamoto and Yankees starter Carlos Rodon. Yamamoto was having a little trouble early landing his pitches–got into too many three-ball counts and walked Gleyber Torres leading off the game. However, he made the pitches when it counted, striking out Aaron Judge and getting a high infield popup from Giancarlo Stanton. On the other hand, Rodon had it pretty easy as well, working around a one-out single from Mookie Betts.
The Dodgers drew first blood in the second when Tommy Edman, batting right-handed, pulled a solo home run into the left field seats to get the Trolley Dodgers off to a quick 1-0. That lead, however was short-lived, as Juan Soto walloped a two-strike pitch to tie up the game in the top of the third.
The Dodgers’ next lead would be not so easy to overcome. In the bottom of the third, after Rodon got two quick outs and seemed to be rolling again, the top of the Dodgers lineup struck back in a big way. First, Mookie Betts ripped another solid single for his second hit of the game. Then, the key at-bat of the early part of the game. Teoscar Hernandez got a high fastball on the outside part of the strike zone from Rodon. He extended those arms and just took it to the opposite field with a long fly ball. It landed among the paying customers in the pavilion and the Dodgers were ahead 3-1.
However, the very next hitter (who’s hitting fourth against lefties these days), Freddie Freeman kept the homer party going with a solo shot of his own, and just like that, Rodon and the Yanks were staring at a 4-1 deficit as the game went into the middle innings.
Meanwhile Yoshinobu Yamamoto was locking in. After the Soto home run, the Dodgers righty cruised through the Yankees lineup. He hung zeroes on the scoreboard in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, making his deepest start this postseason. He came out for the seventh, and got a weak liner to second from Dodger Killer Giancarlo Stanton before he left the field to a rousing round of applause. It had been a brilliant outing: 6.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. After a rough first start in the postseason, he’s been brilliant, and he might just pitch this team to the World Series crown.
Anthony Banda was first up out of the pen against the lefty-heavy middle part of the Yanks lineup, and though he allowed one runner to reach, he pushed the Dodgers’ string of scoreless innings to four straight. In the bottom of the seventh, the Dodgers had a huge scare. Shohei Ohtani walked and attempted a steal of second base. He slid a bit awkwardly and it looked like he had jammed his left arm against the dirt. Japanese TV who overheard the conversation on the field say that Ohtani said thas his shoulder “popped out.” No word on the severity of the injury as of yet. We’ll keep you posted. Fingers crossed for Shohei.
Meanwhile, there was a game to win. Michael Kopech looked very good with the bottom of the order and did a 1-2-3 number on the Yanks in the bottom of the eighth. After a scoreless bottom frame, Blake Treinen came on for the ninth inning. Juan Soto worked a 3-2 count and then hit a screamer of a single off the right field wall. After a wild pitch, Soto was on second, but Treinen got a strikeout from the increasingly ineffective Aaron Judge. One out. Giancarlo Stanton didn’t go yard, but ripped a shot that bounced off the third base bag for a run-scoring single. Yeek! The tying run came to the plate in Jazz Chisholm Jr. Treinen got him to two strikes, but Chisholm ripped a single into right. Then he plunked Anthony Rizzo and suddenly the bases were loaded for Anthony Volpe. Volpe battled, but Treinen won the war. Strikeout! Two away. That brought Dave Roberts out of the dugout. He put up the left hand and Alex Vesia emerged from the dugout, tasked with retiring the final Yankee.
Jose Trevino came off the bench for a righty-lefty matchup against Vesia. And just like last night, it was over quick. Vesia got a flyball on the very first pitch, and Tommy Edman squeezed it short of the warning track for the final out. In the words of Walker Buehler, Yeesh!
After a travel day on Sunday, the Dodgers and Yankees will pick up where they left off in the Bronx on Monday night. It’s going to be Clark Schmidt for the Bombers, and Walker Buehler will take to the hill on the visitors’ side. It’s going to be important to get length out of Buehler on Monday in that there’s a bullpen game scheduled for Tuesday night. It could be a game that Dave Roberts has to manage very carefully, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some lower leverage arms following up Buehler if the game isn’t within reach. Game time is the usual 5:08 PDT. Sounds like a good day to hit the road a little early and get to your watch party while you’re still on the clock. Let’s do this!
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