The New York Yankees have their backs against the wall on Tuesday in New York, as the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to complete a World Series sweep — the first since 2012 — and capture a second title under manager Dave Roberts. It has been a dismal series for the Yankees’ biggest bat, with Aaron Judge batting just .083 over the first three games of this series, going 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts. He isn’t the only Yankee struggling; the Bronx Bombers are batting just .186 as a team in the series, though both Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto are swinging the bat well.
If you’re a Dodgers fan, Game 4 of the Freddie Freeman Show could be a crowning Los Angeles achievement for the former Atlanta star, who is just the third player to hit home runs in the first three games of a World Series, joining Hank Bauer (1958 Yankees) and Barry Bonds (2002 Giants) — and added another one in the first inning of Game 4. Freeman has actually homered in his past six World Series games, dating to his 2021 World Series win with the Braves.
Luis Gil (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 K, 3 BB in 2024 postseason) is on the mound for the Yankees with the season on the line, while the Dodgers are giving the ball to Ben Casparius (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP, 4 K, 2 BB).
How to watch Dodgers vs. Yankees, World Series Game 4 (LAD leads 3-0)
Time: 8:08 p.m. ET
Location: Yankee Stadium | New York
TV Channel: Fox
Streaming: Fox Sports App, Fubo
Live22 updates
You know what, the Yankees will take that. Judge falls behind 0-2, then works a walk to put two on with one out against Ben Casparius. Yankees threatening to respond after Freeman’s homer.
Here is the fan, who will be more famous tomorrow than he was yesterday.
“Well, A for effort.”
Fan interference was called on this play where a Yankee fan tried to take the ball out of Mookie Betts’ glove after an out. pic.twitter.com/iZ6taImncd
Aaron Judge receives a nice ovation from Yankee Stadium amid another brutal postseason. A nice moment from a crowd that desperately needs him to hit like something resembling an MVP.
Gleyber Torres leads off with an out via fan interference. He hit a foul ball into right field that Mookie Betts caught next to the stands … and then a Yankees fan yanked the ball out of his glove with both hands.
Luis Gil gets out of the first without further damage, but the Yankees now need yet another comeback.
It wasn’t the longest homer, but it was in Yankee Stadium. Freeman’s hit would’ve been a flyout or a double in 25 parks.
Dodgers 2, Yankees 0
Freddie Freeman will be your World Series MVP if the Dodgers win tonight. He hits a two-run homer to put L.A. up early and is now the first player to hit a homer in the first four games of a World Series, as well as homer in six straight World Series games.
Today’s crowd is loads better than yesterday’s, which was lackadaisical from the start. I salute the type of baseball sicko that spends $1k to potentially watch your team get swept. That’s not sarcasm. Y’all are the real ones.
Shohei Ohtani flies out, but Mookie Betts follows with a double, and the Dodgers have a runner in scoring position with Freddie Freeman up.
Luis Gil fires a 97 mph fastball to Shohei Ohtani, and we’re off in Game 4 of the 2024 World Series. No rapper-induced delays tonight.
Ohtani’s health remains a question in this series, even if he reached base a couple of times in Game 3.
Paul O’Neill’s first pitch was so bad he threw a second one to A.J. Burnett.
The Dodgers could have some interesting decisions to make tonight. They’re starting Ben Casparius and have Landon Knack waiting in the wings, and both pitchers could throw multiple innings.
If the Dodgers take the lead in those innings, they will probably throw everything at the Yankees to end this series tonight. But if they’re down, they might be fine resting their bullpen as much as they can, with favorable matchups approaching in the later games.
Three homers in three World Series games (plus two more in his previous two World Series games) will do that.
Let’s remember where the Dodgers were on Oct. 8
The Dodgers lost Game 3 of the NLDS to the division-rival San Diego Padres to fall behind 2-1. Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty had both allowed at least four runs in their losses. Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was mocking Dodgers fans. Dave Roberts inspired more mockery by respondng angrily to Manny Machado tossing a ball at him.
Since then, the Dodgers have gone 9-2 while outscoring the Padres, Mets and Yankees 70-29. Their lineup has been a torture chamber, their bullpen has stepped up, and the trio of Buehler, Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have all looked good this series. So much has been made about the Dodgers’ talent, but it took a near 180 to get them to this point.
What’s the history of 3-0 teams in the World Series?
In short, not good if you’re a Yankees fan.
A total of 24 teams have taken a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Of those, 21 ended the series in Game 4, while the other three won the title in Game 5. The Yankees would make history just by sending this series back to Los Angeles.
In the broader history of 3-0 leads, teams with that advantage have won the seven-game series 39 out of 40 times. You probably already know the exception: the 2004 Boston Red Sox’s comeback against the Yankees, which hinged on a steal by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. So it would be quite the reversal of fortune if the Yankees pull that off.
Only one other team has even tied a series after being down 3-0: the 2020 Houston Astros’ near-win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS. The Rays went on to win Game 7.
Why are the Dodgers starting Ben Casparius?
The team on the verge of winning a World Series is starting Ben Casparius, a 25-year-old rookie who made three total appearances in the regular season. He will be the opener in a bullpen game for the Dodgers against Yankees rookie Luis Gil.
This is the Dodgers’ fourth bullpen game of the postseason, and they won two of their first three. That’s despite having Landon Knack, another rookie who was solid in 12 regular-season starts. The Dodgers are doing this because they would rather lean on their bullpen than start a starting pitcher they don’t trust.
The Dodgers have only three starting pitchers because of a cavalcade of injuries to their rotation that could either indicate significant structural issues in their organization or some sort of “Homer at the Bat”-style curse. Here are some starting pitchers who were unavailable this postseason due to injuries: Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, River Ryan, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin.
The Yankees move Giancarlo Stanton, but not Aaron Judge, down in the lineup
The Yankees are making an odd little adjustment with their backs against the wall. Their lineup today has switched usual cleanup hitter Giancarlo Stanton with No. 5 hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr., with Game 3 No. 6 hitter Anthony Volpe and No. 7 hitter Anthony Rizzo also switching. Both are swaps of lefty and righty hitters.
Stanton has been amazing this postseason and recorded the Yankees’ biggest hit of this series with his two-run homer in Game 1. Aaron Judge, who is 6-for-43 with 20 strikeouts this postseason, is still hitting third behind Juan Soto.
Game 4 starting lineups
Ben Casparius and Luis Gil will be the starting pitchers.
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