Anthony Volpe’s third-inning grand slam overcame Freddie Freeman’s record-setting home run, and the New York Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night that forced a Game 5.
Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second consecutive night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York surged ahead 5-2 on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s drive against Daniel Hudson in the third. Volpe turned on a first-pitch slider at the knees and drove it into the left-field seats.
“I was hustling. I didn’t know I got it,” Volpe said. “And then I blacked out.”
A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT FOR ANTHONY VOLPE!<br><br>GRAND SLAM. <a href=”https://twitter.com/Yankees?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@YANKEES</a> LEAD! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WORLDSERIES?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WORLDSERIES</a> <a href=”https://t.co/X754vjoPGe”>pic.twitter.com/X754vjoPGe</a>
—@MLB
Volpe came across with New York’s first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the count in the second inning. He also doubled and stole two bases.
“Amazing. Volpe, he did it all tonight,” Gleyber Torres said.
Austin Wells and Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.
“We’re down three, and really just went out there and said screw it,” Wells said.
Los Angeles closed within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith’s homer off starter Luis Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play on what originally was ruled an out but was reversed in a video review.
Wells hit a second-deck homer in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth ahead of Torres’ three-run homer off Brent Honeywell.
THE <a href=”https://twitter.com/Yankees?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@YANKEES</a> HAVE PUT UP 10 RUNS IN <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WORLDSERIES?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WORLDSERIES</a> GAME 4! <a href=”https://t.co/qfkORDE5NX”>pic.twitter.com/qfkORDE5NX</a>
—@MLB
Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza strung together five innings of one-hit relief with seven strikeouts, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first losing Series sweep since 1976.
Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.
“Gerrit’s the best pitcher in the game. We really believe in him,” Torres said. “But we have to do the job like we did tonight so we don’t have to put all the pressure on him.”
The 2004 Boston Red Sox, sparked by a stolen base from current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, are the only team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in any round, beating the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.
New York stopped a seven-game Series losing streak against the Dodgers dating to 1981. The Yankees got their first seven RBIs from the bottom three hitters in their batting order, Volpe, Wells and Verdugo, who had entered 4 for 32 with three RBIs in the Series.
Freeman homers again, makes history
SIX STRAIGHT WORLD SERIES GAMES WITH A HOME RUN<br><br>HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE <a href=”https://t.co/IPOCt2pjDI”>pic.twitter.com/IPOCt2pjDI</a>
—@MLB
Freeman’s walk-off grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning turned around the opener, giving the Dodgers a 6-3 win. The Yankees had not led since then.
Volpe walked in the second against rookie Ben Casparias, reached third on Wells’ double off the centre-field wall and scored on Verdugo’s groundout.
Losing pitcher Hudson loaded the bases in the third when he Judge with a pitch with one out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled off the right-field wall and Giancarlo Stanton walked. Anthony Rizzo popped out and Volpe hit the record sixth slam of the postseason.
