Yankees lose to Dodgers, fall into 2-0 World Series hole as last-gasp rally falls short
LOS ANGELES — If the Yankees absorbed a gut-punch on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1, this Dodgers right hook was aimed further north.
There were not many Aaron Boone decisions to dissect. Unlike a night prior, there was little hope intact until the ninth inning, and thus just a little was ripped away when a first and final rally fell short.
This was something more direct and more flattening, a blow to the head that will lead to questions whether the Yankees can rise back to their feet in The Bronx.
They return home in a two-game World Series hole after bombing in Hollywood, where the Dodgers mostly manhandled the Yankees, 4-2, in a Game 2 that was not much of a game until the last frame.
On Saturday, Carlos Rodon could not follow in Gerrit Cole’s Friday footsteps and could not survive even the fourth inning. He tallied as many strikeouts (three) as home runs surrendered, putting the Yankees in a ditch that felt deeper than the final score reflected.
The only true Yankees rally arrived against Blake Treinen in the ninth, when Juan Soto singled — his second hit and the club’s second hit — took second on a wild pitch and scored on a Giancarlo Stanton single. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to put the tying run on first base, and Anthony Rizzo was drilled to load the bases.
With one out and the tying run on second, Anthony Volpe struck out.
The Dodgers turned to lefty Alex Vesia, so Boone countered with righty-hitting Jose Trevino rather than Austin Wells.
Trevino, in just his third plate appearance of the postseason, flied out to center on the first pitch he saw.
The Dodgers’ bigger scare in the final innings arguably came from their own side.
Shohei Ohtani was gunned down trying to steal second to end the seventh and remained on the dirt in obvious pain. He walked off the field holding his left arm gingerly, and there was no immediate update from the Dodgers.
The Yankees’ only trace of a pulse for eight innings came in the third, when Soto authored another one of those impossibly great at-bats — fighting off a 2-2 slider so he could finally see a fastball, which he sent to the skies for a home run into the right-field seats to tie game at 1-1 — before they flatlined.
After Soto’s blast, Yoshinobu Yamamoto retired the next 11 batters before being pulled when Yankees hitters were a combined 1-for-20 against him.
The only pitcher to receive a bigger contract than Cole pitched like he was worth every bit of his $325 million.
The Yankees looked overmatched for most of the night.
Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts to sink to 6-for-40 (.150) this postseason.
Wells went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a couple harmless ground outs and is now 4-for-41 (.096) in October.
On this night, the Yankees would have needed a near-perfect Rodon yet received the same Rodon that showed up too often this season — the one prone to home runs.
First it was NLCS MVP Tommy Edman, who might be more a New York killer than a Mets killer and who turned on a 2-0 four-seamer on the inner part of the plate.
Edman crushed a towering drive down the left-field line, 355 feet away, for the early Dodgers lead in the second inning.
After Soto’s dinger, the Dodgers gained the lead and separation in the third, all with two outs.
Mookie Betts smacked a single to left before Rodon left a 98-mph fastball in the middle of the plate to Teoscar Hernandez. The outfielder demolished it into the right-field seats and admired his handiwork from the batter’s box as he gave his club a two-run edge.
The sold-out Dodger Stadium was still buzzing six pitches later when Freeman — Friday’s hero — drilled a no-doubter deep into the right-field stands to go back-to-back, Rodon lifted after just 3 ¹/₃ innings.
Strong bullpen work from Jake Cousins, Tim Hill, Clay Holmes and Mark Leiter Jr. kept the game within reach, but the offense could not get the big hit in the ninth.
The Yankees’ season rests in the hands of Clarke Schmidt in Game 3 and Luis Gil in Game 4, looking to turn a Hollywood tragedy into a comeback story.
