The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the World Series on Saturday, but they were left with the biggest possible question mark as the series heads to New York.
The good for the Dodgers was a stellar start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto against the New York Yankees, while Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández and Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman all homered off Yankees starter Carlos Rodón in a 4-2 victory.
Yamamoto's lone hit allowed was a home run from Juan Soto in the third inning. After that, he retired 11 straight batters to finish his biggest start since arriving stateside. His final line: 6 1/3 innings, one hit, one earned run, two walks and four strikeouts. Just about every one of his pitches was working, particularly a splitter that drew four whiffs on seven swings.
Manager Dave Roberts referred to the injury postgame as a "little" subluxation. He said the team will do more tests, but early signs were positive.
Things got even more stressful for the Dodgers when the Yankees got the tying run on base in the ninth against Blake Treinen, but Treinen struck out Anthony Volpe, and then Alex Vesia came in and got the final out of the game to secure a 4-2 win after a lot of Yankee traffic in the final frame.
No matter the tension, a 2-0 lead in the World Series is the better place to be, even with one of the game's best players potentially injured. It's the Yankees' backs that are now against the wall, and they'll need a win with Clarke Schmidt on the mound against Walker Buehler in Game 3 on Monday.
Alex Vesia gets out of it with a Trevino flyout. And breathe.
Jack Baer
Treinen, on his 33rd pitch of the inning, strikes out Anthony Volpe. Dave Roberts finally pulls him and brings in Alex Vesia with the game on the line. The Yankees respond by pinch-hitting Jose Trevino for Austin Wells.
The Dodgers keeping Blake Treinen in this game, with Alex Vesia warmed in the bullpen, is absolutely bizarre. Dave Roberts is betting on his top bullpen arm, and it's going to be ugly if it goes against him.
Anthony Rizzo gets hit by a pitch for the second time tonight.
The bases are loaded with Yankees. Still just one out.
This game was ALL Dodgers, and suddenly the Yankees are threatening to flip the script.
Judge strikes out swinging AGAIN. His at-bats are starting to be tough to watch.
Soto goes to second on a wild pitch. We have a Yankee in scoring position.
Soto bounces one off the right-field wall for his second big hit of the night — and the Yankees' second hit of the night.
One on, nobody out. The Yankees need three runs.
Blake Treinen is in to try to get the final three outs to close out a 4-1 Dodgers victory.
Jack Baer
Ohtani injury looms large for Dodgers
Stealing bases had been the story of Ohtani's season, as he went from a fast but inefficient baserunner to one of the best in baseball in his first season with the Dodgers. He made MLB history with the first 50-50 season, finishing the year with 59 steals on 63 attempts, but the postseason was another story for that skill.
The play on which he was injured was only his second attempt of the playoffs, with no successes.
He was already unlikely to have another at-bat in the game, so we will wait to see what the Dodgers share postgame. That could've been the biggest moment of this game.
Jack Baer
Oh, no. Shohei Ohtani was caught stealing and is grabbing his left arm in pain.
Jack Baer
Shohei Ohtani is 0-for-3 tonight, but the Yankees still want very little to do with him. Clay Holmes threw him five pitches, and none was in the zone. That's a leadoff walk with Mookie Betts coming up.
Jack Baer
Anthony Volpe flies out, and the Dodgers are six outs from taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series.
Jack Baer
Anthony Rizzo, the active career leader in HBP, gets on base after Banda grazes his hand with a fastball. The Yankees get their first baserunner since Soto's homer in the third, but with two outs in the seventh.
Jack Baer
The Dodgers gave Yamamoto the biggest contract in the history of pitching to keep him away from the Yankees and Mets last offseason. With the start he delivered tonight, that's looking like a bargain.
Jack Baer
Yamamoto gets Stanton to fly out, and here comes Dave Roberts. Yamamoto retired his last 11 batters faced and receives a standing ovation and "Yoshi" chants from Dodger Stadium as he heads to the dugout. In comes Anthony Banda.
Yamamoto's final line: 6 1/3 inning, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 86 pitches.
Banda is left-handed, so we'll see if Yamamoto gets the full inning. The left-handed Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Rizzo are due up after Stanton, so this might be a one-batter assignment for Yamamoto.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is back out there to start the seventh inning, though Anthony Banda is warming.
Tim Hill retires Kiké Hernández and Max Muncy, and that will do it for him after a perfect 1 1/3 innings. Clay Holmes enters to face Will Smith with two outs.
Jack Baer
This is looking bad for the Yankees, but here's the thing: They have crushed a lot of spirits in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings this postseason. You cannot count them out with them down only three runs.
Yamamoto has allowed only one hit — the Juan Soto home run — and three baserunners total while striking out four in six innings. Much was made entering this game about how his best game of the regular season was against the Yankees, and, well, he's replicating that.
Jack Baer
Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes 1-2-3 against the top of the Yankees lineup in eight pitches, with another strikeout of Aaron Judge. That was impressive, and the Dodgers will probably keep riding him.
Hill strikes Tommy Edman out looking to keep the fifth inning scoreless. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto stays in to face the top of the Yankees order in the top of the sixth.
No one is warming in the Dodgers bullpen.
Jack Baer
Freeman hits a soft fly to right field, and swung and missed on a first-pitch inside fastball (the same pitch Nestor Cortes threw him).
However, the bigger concern for the Yankees might be that the sidearmer will have to face lefty-crusher Tommy Edman unless Freeman hits into a double play.
Jack Baer
Another scoreless inning for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is now at 72 pitches through five. The top of the lineup is due up next inning, though, so we'll see how cautious the Dodgers want to play with the third time through the order.
Jack Baer
Cousins gets Ohtani to ground out to end the inning. It's still 4-1 Dodgers through four.
Will Smith welcomes Jake Cousins with a double to the center-field wall. Big hit there because it means Shohei Ohtani will probably be facing the righty Cousins, though Cousins is good on both sides of the plate.
Jack Baer
Rodón's final line: 3 1/3 innings, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 3 HR, 63 pitches. Just a bad matchup for a solid pitcher.
Jack Baer
Rodón strikes out Muncy, and that will do it for him. Jake Cousins, who took the loss last night after allowing a hit and a walk in three batters, is taking over.
The Yankees bullpen has 5 2/3 innings to cover, which probably isn't what Aaron Boone was envisioning tonight.
The Yankees are indeed keeping Rodón in for the fourth inning. Maybe not a surprise with the back half of the lineup due up, but you could also see them pulling him after the left-handed Max Muncy.
Jack Baer
Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a scoreless fourth inning, and just as significantly, needs only 10 pitches to do it. He has thrown 62, and the Dodgers would certainly like it if he can go longer than his usual, say, five innings.
Jordan Shusterman
Homers getting to Rodón
Even when Carlos Rodón's stuff looks sharp and is in the zone, he is especially prone to fly balls — a dangerous weakness against a team such as the Dodgers that has so many hitters capable of hitting the ball airborne with authority.
Rodón's hardest pitch of the night — a 98 mph, 1-0 heater to Teoscar Hernandez — was torched to center for a homer before Freddie Freeman followed by winning a six-pitch battle that ended with another homer to put L.A. up 4-1.
Aaron Boone will have some tough decisions to make soon regarding which bullpen arms he chooses to deploy if he hopes to keep this game close.
Jack Baer
Freddie Freeman is the second player to have multiple home runs and a triple over the first two games of a World Series. The other was Babe Ruth in the 1923 World Series. pic.twitter.com/6f5E2x4CyS
Carlos Rodón gets out of the inning, and we'll see if they send him back out there to face the bottom of the Dodgers lineup before reaching the third time through the order. He's at 59 pitches through three.
Big problem for him here: He usually relies on his changeup against right-handed batters such as Edman and Hernández, but the Dodgers had the best wOBA in baseball against offspeed pitches during the regular season.
