NEW YORK — As far as the New York Yankees are concerned, the only thing left is a miracle.
The Los Angeles Dodgers moved within one win of their second World Series championship in five years and eighth overall with a 4-2 victory in Game 3 on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. In fact, no team facing that hole has ever forced a seventh game.
As is usually the case in the postseason, pitching and timely hitting told the story in Game 3. Dodgers starter Walker Buehler pitched five excellent innings, while his counterpart, the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt, struggled with his command from the outset and was gone before the end of the third.
Making the biggest start of his young career, Schmidt did not look ready for the moment. With one out in the first inning and Shohei Ohtani on first, courtesy of a four-pitch walk, the 28-year-old right-hander threw a 1-2 fastball into Freddie Freeman’s wheelhouse that the veteran first baseman pulled into the seats in right for his third home run of the series.
Things got worse for Schmidt in the third. With one out, Mookie Betts fought off several pitches before blooping a single to right in front of Juan Soto, scoring Tommy Edman, who had walked to open the frame. Freeman followed with a five-pitch walk and with two outs Max Muncy worked another free pass to load the bases and end Schmidt’s night after 68 pitches. Mark Leiter Jr., however, came on and got Will Smith to bounce back to mound, keeping the score at 3-0.
Leiter proved to not be immune to the leadoff walk, as he put Gavin Lux on to open the fourth. Kiké Hernandez followed with a single to right, sending Lux to third. Edman then put down a squeeze bunt, but Leiter flipped the ball to catcher Jose Trevino who tagged out Lux. The Dodgers challenged, but the replay wasn’t enough to overturn the call.
Nestor Cortes came on and ended the threat by striking out Ohtani on a 3-2 slider and getting Betts to fly out to left.
The Yankees, meanwhile, struggled mightily against Buehler, managing just a pair of walks by Gleyber Torres over the first three innings. The frustration really mounted in the fourth, when Giancarlo Stanton, after lining a one-out double to left, was gunned down at home by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez following a two-out single by Anthony Volpe.
Buehler was removed after five innings, despite throwing only 76 pitches. The Dodgers, however, have a deep bullpen and they showed as much, limiting the Yankees to just three hits the rest of the way.
The Dodgers made it 4-0 in the sixth. With one out, Yankees reliever Jake Cousins hit Lux, who then stole second and scored on Hernandez’s single up the middle.
Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to cut the Yankees’ deficit to two, but Torres grounded out to short to end it.
Game 4 is set for 8:08 p.m. on Tuesday, with rookie right-hander Luis Gil tasked with helping to keep the Yankees’ season alive. The Dodgers are expected to pitch a bullpen game and save Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty in case the series continues.
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