The Yankees began Game 5 of the World Series last night (Wednesday) at home in the Bronx with the same peril as Game 4 on Tuesday: win or their season was over. They avoided being swept on Tuesday in the best-of-seven series, showing pride and fortitude with an 11-4 victory in Game 4. A grand slam by shortstop Anthony Volpe and a three-run home run by second baseman Gleyber Torres powered them live another day. Trailing 3-0 after losing Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles and dropping Game 3 at home on Monday, the Yankees went into last night hoping to get back to L.A. for a Game 6 tomorrow and miraculously become the second team in MLB playoff history and the first in the World Series to win the championship overcoming the aforementioned deficit.
Home runs highlighted both Dodger victories in Game 1(6-3 in 10 innings) and Game 2 (4-2). First baseman Freddie Freeman provided the power for the Dodgers with a game winning walk-off grand slam in Game 1, the first ever in the World Series. Dodger manager Dave Roberts said after the game Freeman’s blast “might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones.”
One of three Black managers to win a World Series, Roberts woke up yesterday morning on the cusp of becoming just the second Black manager to win multiple World Series championships. Cito Gaston had previously won two times piloting the Toronto Blue Jays. Dusty Baker is the third of the group, capturing the title in 2022 guiding the Houston Astros.
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Games 2 and 3, both 4-2 victories for the L.A., were close games in which the Yankee offense was non-existent. Held to four and five hits respectively, their lack of run support didn’t complement the performances of the bullpen which allowed one run in both games combined. Aaron Judge and Austin Wells were batting under .200 for the series entering last night. Many fans and media called for manager Aaron Boone to move Judge from the third spot in the lineup, but they were resisted.
Instead, he moved Jazz Chisholm to fourth in front of Giancarlo Stanton, and the Yankees produced their largest run output on Tuesday. The Yankees need to look within for the answers as to why they went down 3-0 in the series. While the Dodgers performed up to their resume, as the best regular season team in baseball, they didn’t begin this World Series as a juggernaut.
The San Diego Padres took them all the way to the final game of the opening round series and the Mets beat them twice, eventually losing 4-2 in the National League Championship Series. The Yankees losses have been by and large self-inflicted, including Boone deciding to bring Nestor Cortes out of the bullpen in the 10th inning in Game 1 rather than Tim Hill to pitch to Freeman leading to the fateful ending.