Yankees 11-4 Dodgers (Oct. 29, 2024) Game Recap

NEW YORK – Fifteen years after little Anthony Volpe watched the Yankees parade with the World Series trophy, he saved their season and kept alive their hopes of an unlikely title.

New York was closer to winning the World Series when Freddie Freeman hit another home run in the first inning.

Volpe, a New York native whose family has idolized the pinstripes for generations, has introduced a knee-high slider and perhaps redesigned the series. His third-inning grand slam gave the Yankees an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, forcing a Game 5.

“The place shook. I felt the ground literally shake,” Yankees catcher Austin Wells said.

Wells and Gleyber Torres hit home runs for the Yankees, who opened the game with a five-run eighth.

New York, which had scored just seven runs in its first three games, regained some of its swagger. Wells spoke after the game wearing a Yankees “Fully Operational Death Star” T-shirt, referencing general manager Brian Cashman's 2018 joke.

Fans in the sellout crowd of 49,354 chanted Volpe's name in the ninth inning.

“It's like finally seeing the tip bounce off Yankee Stadium in a World Series game,” Aaron Boone said after his first World Series win as New York's manager. “When Anthony hit that ball, it was great fun to see Yankee Stadium explode.”

Wells said the dire situation following Monday's loss eased the pressure.

“Why don't you go out and have fun tomorrow?” he described it as the mood.

Freeman hit a home run in his sixth straight Series game when he sent a slider from rookie Luis Gil into the right field short porch after Mookie Betts' one-out double. He became the first player to hit a home run in the first four games of a World Series, and his streak of long balls in six straight games is one more than Houston's George Springer in 2017 and 2019.

“I’ll look back on it after we hopefully win and get it done tomorrow,” Freeman said. “Pretty cool. Of course I hope I can continue tomorrow.”

Game 5 takes place on Wednesday night, with Yankees star Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers' Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.

Looking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit, New York took a 5-2 lead on Alex Verdugo's RBI grounder in the second and Volpe's drive off Daniel Hudson.

“All it takes is one hit,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said.

Volpe sent Hudson's first pitch into the left field seats.

“I almost fainted when I saw it fly over the fence,” Volpe said.

The 23-year-old Volpe, a Gold Glove shortstop in his second big league season, also hit a double and became the first player in Series history to hit a grand slam and two stolen bases in a game. He was 8 years old the last time the Yankees won the Series.

Volpe scored New York's first run when he walked after being down 2-0 in the second inning. He made a baserun error while heading back to second base to take turns and failed to score on Wells' double from the center field wall – hitting his own leg in anger. Verdugo followed with an RBI grounder.

“They’re going to fight,” Betts said. “If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got a resilient team that will fight all the time.”

Los Angeles finished 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith's home run off Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman was able to hit a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play that was originally ruled out but was reversed in a video review.

Wells hit a second-deck home run in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth – capping an 11-pitch at-bat – before Torres' three-run home run against Brent Honeywell.

Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza pitched scoreless relief with one hit and seven strikeouts in five innings, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first Series loss since 1976 .

“Result-wise, it feels good to me to have six guys on the team that are feeling good and rested,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

21 of the previous 24 teams that took a 3-0 series lead won the series, all but the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics over the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees over the New York Giants, and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles against the Cincinnati Reds. All three of those series ended in five games.

The 2004 Boston Red Sox, sparked by a base-stealing attack by Roberts, are the only team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in one round to defeat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.

Judge drove in his first run of the series with an RBI single in the eighth and is 2 for 15 in the four games. Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani is also 2 for 15 after going 1 for 4 with a single, his first hit , since he partially separated his left shoulder in Game 2.

New York snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Dodgers in 1981. The Yankees got their first seven RBI from the bottom three hitters in their batting order, Volpe, Wells and Verdugo, who went 4-for-32 with three RBI the series.

Volpe was interviewed after the game by former Yankees captain Derek Jeter, now a Fox broadcaster.

“It's my dream, but it was all my friends' dreams, all my cousins' dreams, probably my sister's dream too. But winning the World Series was the most important thing. by far. Nothing else compares. “So there is still a lot to do,” said Volpe.

Former Boston star David Ortiz, also a Fox commentator, gave Volpe a T-shirt.

“I have it in my locker,” Volpe said. “I can't wear it. There’s stuff from him and the Red Sox on there.”

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Cole allowed one run over six-plus innings in the opener – Kiké Hernández tripled in the fifth when right fielder Juan Soto took a bad route and then scored on Smith's sacrifice fly. Flaherty gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings, including a two-run home run off Giancarlo Stanton.

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