The season is on the brink for the New York Yankees. Down 2–0 in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, their bats were inexcusably quiet in Game 3 on Monday, leading to a 4–2 loss. The Dodgers now sit just one win away from a title.
Los Angeles jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the first inning on a home run from (who else?) Freddie Freeman. There was no looking back. Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt had to be yanked in the third inning. And the parade of relievers that followed him—seven in all—received no run support until it was too late. New York scored its first runs with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning: A two-run home run from Alex Verdugo ensured the game would not be a shutout. But that was the only real offense of the night.
The Yankees’ lineup finished the night 5-for-31 with 11 strikeouts. That disappointing performance included continued struggles for presumptive MVP slugger Aaron Judge, who went 0-for-3, though he struck out only once.
Meanwhile, Dodgers superstar designated hitter Shohei Ohtani remained in the lineup for Game 3 after a scare at the end of Game 2, when a failed steal attempt resulted in a subluxation of his left shoulder. (He looked somewhat compromised—he could be seen wincing after swings and positioned his arm very carefully when running the bases—and went 0-for-3 but reached base twice, once on a walk, once on a hit by pitch on his foot.) When he takes the field tomorrow for Game 4, it will be to play for his first championship.
Walker Buehler’s Day On
This has been a rocky season for Buehler. He began the year on the injured list while still recovering from the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entirety of last season. After a difficult return to the mound in May, he then missed the majority of the summer with a hip injury, finally making his way back to the roster in mid-August. But he never looked quite like himself. Buehler finished the regular season with a 5.38 ERA (72 ERA+)—by far the worst marks of his career. His first playoff start this year offered more of the same. (He allowed six runs in five innings in a loss to the San Diego Padres in the NLDS.) But he looked notably sharper against the New York Mets in the NLCS, and in Game 3 on Monday, he shone.
Buehler did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. New York struggled to make hard contact against him and whiffed repeatedly on his fastball. (Buehler finished with five strikeouts.) The Yankees were 2-for-14 against him with two walks. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him after five scoreless innings—reasonably choosing not to have him see the top of the lineup a third time—but he looked as if he could have comfortably gone another frame or two. It was among his best outings of the year: Buehler had just one scoreless performance in the regular season, which came against the Reds back in May, before his hip injury. And this one could not have come at a better time.
Clarke Schmidt’s Cutter Abandons Him
Schmidt got more strikeouts on his cutter than on any of his other pitches this year. It was his primary choice for a putaway pitch; roughly a third of swings on his cutter ended up whiffing. But on Monday night against L.A.? Schmidt threw 21 cutters and got whiffs. The Dodgers simply refused to chase. And, of course, when they did swing on the pitch, they made him pay.
Schmidt was pulled midway through the third inning. He’d thrown 68 pitches and scarcely half of them had been strikes. That’s partially a credit to the Dodgers, of course, who have better control of the zone than any other lineup in baseball. But it was also a sign of a pitcher who simply did not have it. The best illustration of that may have been the very first batter he faced.
Schmidt began the night against Dodgers leadoff hitter Ohtani, who partially dislocated his left shoulder on a failed steal at the end of Game 2, sparking two days of conversation about his health and how well he might be able to swing. But the crowd had to wait a bit longer to see him in action: Ohtani didn’t have to swing at all in his first plate appearance against Schmidt. The righty walked him on four pitches. None were even close to the zone. His command got somewhat better as he settled in. But he never looked fully in control.
Yankees Fail to Strike the Right Balance
Managers love to preach the importance of keeping a cool head in the postseason. But a team falling behind early in Game 3 while down 2–0 in the World Series requires a certain level of urgency. And the Yankees failed to hit the appropriate notes there on Monday.
Their initial bullpen strategy felt better suited for a midsummer affair. The first two firemen from the ‘pen were… Mark Leiter Jr. and Nestor Cortes. (That ultimately worked—Leiter and Cortes combined for 2 ⅓ scoreless innings—but the pair did allow traffic on the base paths. Those scoreless innings were due as much to Los Angeles’s inability to pad its lead with runners on as they were to New York’s pitching.) If ever there were a spot to turn aggressive and go to one of your top arms early—this would have been it. But that lack of aggression was not a universal theme for the Yankees. There were other spots where they erred by acting aggressive.
In the fourth inning, Giancarlo Stanton hit a double, becoming the first runner in scoring position all night for New York. With two outs, Anthony Volpe singled to left field, which seemed like a straightforward opportunity to advance the lead runner to third. But the Yankees instead decided to send Stanton—who is not exactly fleet of feet. He was thrown out at the plate. That did require a great play by the Dodgers: It took a bullet of a throw by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández and a smooth tag by catcher Will Smith. But it shouldn’t have been in question in the first place. And it proved costly. The Yankees would not see another runner on third base until the ninth inning.