LOS ANGELES — It was an evening of loud noises. A pregame efficiency from L.A. legend Ice Dice. The ball bounding off the Dodgers’ bats. A standing ovation for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The large center-field audio system blaring celebration music in a celebratory setting.
All that Sport 2 noise went away when Shohei Ohtani injured his left shoulder on a failed seventh-inning stolen-base try and lay on the bottom in apparent agony. The Dodger Stadium crowd quieted rapidly, then acquired mighty tense when the Yankees almost got here again within the ninth. However whereas the harm to their iconic designated hitter hung heavy within the air, the Dodgers had been in a position to feed off the Freddie Freeman frenzy from an evening earlier with a 4-2 win Saturday night time to take a commanding 2-0 edge on this best-of-seven Fall Traditional.
Freeman, nonetheless nursing that sprained proper ankle, went deep once more, and this time he had the corporate of NLCS MVP Tommy Edman and All-Star Teoscar Hernández and the backing of 6 1/3 one-hit innings from Yamamoto. The celebration quieted when Ohtani went down, and the Yankees had all people on the sting of their seats once they plated a run and loaded the bases within the ninth. However the Dodgers protected their dwelling turf.
“You are not attempting to lose in entrance of your own home crowd,” mentioned Freeman, who’s within the pole place for MVP honors. “You wish to get these wins early, and also you’re going into a troublesome place to play.”
It may very well be harder if Ohtani is out. However after their win, the Dodgers had been optimistic that the shoulder subluxation Ohtani suffered could be manageable.
“We’ll get some assessments sooner or later tonight, tomorrow, after which we’ll know extra within the subsequent couple days,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “However the power was nice. The vary of movement, good. So we’re inspired.”
In all best-of-seven postseason collection, groups taking a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the collection 77 of 92 occasions (84%). The latest comeback from a 2-0 deficit got here within the 2023 NLCS, with the D-backs rallying in opposition to the Phillies. Underneath the present 2-3-2 format, groups profitable Video games 1 and a pair of at dwelling have gone on to take the collection 45 of 56 occasions (80%).
And so the Yankees, who introduced their band of slugging superstars to the West Coast, head east with a frightening deficit in opposition to a Dodgers crew that had been an out away from angst within the opener, but is now two wins from a hoop.
Although the Yanks pressed onerous late, Carlos Rodón’s struggles from the beginning had them enjoying behind a lot of the night time.
“Nobody mentioned it’ll be straightforward,” Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned. “It is a lengthy collection, and we have to make it an extended collection now. We can’t flinch. We have simply acquired to maintain at it.”
The Dodgers had been at it early in opposition to Rodón.
Tommy Edman, the wiry utility man who got here aboard in an unheralded midseason commerce, continued his hero flip and sizzle in opposition to southpaws by taking Rodón deep with a solo shot within the second.
Although the Yankees struck again with a Juan Soto solo shot — the lone mistake from Yamamoto — within the prime of the third, the sport wasn’t knotted for lengthy. Within the backside of the third, the loaded Dodgers lineup feasted on Rodón fastballs to mount a two-out rally.
First, Mookie Betts ripped a single to left. Then, Hernández, who got here to L.A. as one of many lesser-publicized signings within the Dodgers’ $1.2 billion winter and turned in an All-Star marketing campaign, smoked a 98 mph four-seamer up within the zone into the right-field pavilion seats for a powerful two-run blast that made it 3-1.
Dodger Stadium was nonetheless rocking after Teoscar’s tater when Freeman stepped to the plate. The jersey he wore for Kirk Gibson karaoke night time was freshly encased close to the stadium’s suite-level entrance, however Freeman made it clear that the epic ending to Sport 1 was not the top of his contributions to this trigger. He labored the depend full, then related when Rodón challenged him with one other excessive heater.
As was the case an evening earlier, Freeman left little doubt over the place the ball would land, and the Dodgers had been up 4-1.
“I’ve guessed proper twice,” Freeman mentioned.
That was the lead put within the clearly succesful palms of Yamamoto, who had spurned the Yankees and one-upped their ace Gerrit Cole when he signed a 12-year, $325 million contract to hitch the Dodgers final winter. This was an evening when Yamamoto confirmed the broad baseball world — together with an ample viewers in his native Japan — what all of the fuss was about, confounding a harmful lineup by permitting solely the Soto swat and two walks and retaining the strain off the oft-used L.A. bullpen by pitching into the seventh.
Yamamoto retired the final 11 hitters he confronted and left to a stirring spherical of applause.
“All the pieces,” he mentioned by an interpreter, “was working nicely as we speak.”
All this rapture made the sound of silence when Ohtani lay in ache at second base all of the extra piercing. Ohtani had drawn a stroll off Clay Holmes and tried to swipe a bag, simply as he had finished 59 occasions within the common season. This time, his left hand hit the bottom onerous on his slide, and the power went to his shoulder.
“That is powerful,” the Yankees’ Aaron Decide mentioned of the harm to his possible fellow 2024 MVP. “You by no means like seeing the most effective participant within the recreation injured like that.”
The Ohtani harm modified the tone, after which the Yankees tried to alter the lead by mounting a ninth-inning rally off Blake Treinen.
Soto singled and superior on a wild pitch, and Giancarlo Stanton drove him dwelling by banging a base hit off the third-base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to place runners at first and second with one out, and Treinen plunked Anthony Rizzo with a 2-2 pitch to load the bases. However Treinen acquired an enormous strikeout of Anthony Volpe, and Alex Vesia retired Jose Trevino on one pitch for the ultimate out to convey the loud noises again once more.
“It’s October, nothing’s gonna be straightforward,” Freeman mentioned. “The final three outs are the toughest. However all confidence concerned in Blake, and Blake handed over to Alex. He acquired the on the market. So we’re up two video games. It is a good begin.”
