The New York Yankees' shortstop found redemption and an old form in the third inning of a must-win Game 4, hitting a go-ahead grand slam to help his team avoid a sweep with an 11-4 win on Tuesday. Game 5 is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET Wednesday.
The Dodgers went ahead early in Game 4 on yet another home run from Freddie Freeman, his record sixth straight game with a homer in the Fall Classic. It was how the Dodgers began their wins in Games 2 and 3, and then the Yankees didn't help themselves with some misplays.
One of those misplays was from Volpe, who failed to score from second on a double by Austin Wells. It ultimately didn't cost the Yankees much — Volpe later scored from third on a groundout — but it still loomed large when he next went to the plate, with the bases loaded against Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson.
That was the shot the Yankees needed, with their pitching staff again limiting a potent Dodgers offense from there. Starting pitcher Luis Gil lasted only four innings, but the New York bullpen proceeded to throw five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and one hit allowed.
The Yankees are still down 3-1 and face dire odds in this World Series, but they did what they needed to do on Tuesday. Of the 24 teams that have fallen behind 3-0 in a World Series, 21 went on to lose Game 4, so the Yankees can at least say they showed more fight than their predecessors. They're the first to win such a Game 4 since 1970.
Now the series goes to a winnable matchup between Gerrit Cole and Jack Flaherty on Wednesday. Another victory there, and the Yankees would be the first team in World Series history to force a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0.
And if the series goes back to Los Angeles, who knows what could happen?
Here's how it all went down on Yahoo Sports:
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Jack Baer
And hindsight is 20/20, but the Dodgers' biggest regret in this game is probably sticking with Daniel Hudson after he loaded the bases in the third inning. Staying with a struggling reliever has paid off before in this series, most notably not pulling Blake Treinen when he was in hot water in the ninth inning of Game 2, but sticking with what is maybe your fourth-best reliever in that spot was questionable and, eventually, lamentable.
The good news is Hudson was the only bullpen arm of note that the Dodgers used in Game 4. The rest of their top arms are rested to back up Jack Flaherty, who has been the Dodgers' steadiest pitcher since the team acquired him at the trade deadline.
Jack Baer
Let's just note something about how statistics work: No team has ever come back from down 3-0 in the World Series, but teams have come back from down 3-1 in the World Series, and that's what matters now. Unprecedented doesn't mean impossible, and the Yankees are already past that.
Granted, the Yankees now have to win three games in a row with starting pitcher matchups that they lost the first time around, but the flip side is that the Dodgers' rotation will all have to replicate some of the best starts of their season. The Yankees can make history just by sending this series back to Los Angeles, and it's going to be a very different vibe if they do.
Jack Baer
It can't be understated how good the Yankees' bullpen has been in this series, Nestor Cortes Jr. notwithstanding. Freddie Freeman's grand slam represents the only four earned runs that unit has allowed all series, and they came up huge again in this game, with five scoreless innings after four runs allowed by Luis Gil.
Any more runs allowed, and the Dodgers would have used their better relievers rather than ride Landon Knack and Brent Honeywell all game.
There will be no sweep in the 2024 World Series. The Yankees blow out the Dodgers in Game 4 to force a Game 5 on Wednesday, which will see Gerrit Cole face Jack Flaherty.
Jack Baer
The Bleacher Creatures just started chanting: "We want Soto!"
Juan Soto turned around and waved to them. He is beloved here, and with good reason.
Giancarlo Stanton pops out to put a merciful end to the inning, in which Honeywell threw 50 pitches. In comes Tim Mayza to get the final three outs of what quickly turned into a rout.
Jack Baer
Yankees 11, Dodgers 4
Aaron Judge scores Soto with a single to left, and it was maybe his best-struck ball of the series. It was in garbage time, but the Yankees will welcome any opportunity for their MVP to get hot.
With runners on second and third, Alex Verdugo works an 11-pitch at-bat against Brent Honeywell and hits a grounder to second. Anthony Volpe beats the throw home, and Yankee Stadium can breathe a little easier.
Luke Weaver strikes out Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy to finish the top of the eighth, and the Yankees are three outs from forcing a Game 5.
Jack Baer
Luke Weaver stays in and gets a huge out from Freddie Freeman to open the inning. The Yankees can avoid the Dodgers' top of the order again if they get five of the next six batters out.
Jack Baer
Knack gets three straight flyouts and is at 56 pitches through four innings of work. Very little reason for the Dodgers to remove him if they don't do anything in the top of the eighth.
Jack Baer
It's still Landon Knack in for the Dodgers. It's his fourth inning of work, and he'll start it against Aaron Judge.
Jack Baer
Weaver strikes Betts out swinging, and that leaves only six more outs to get.
And in comes Luke Weaver to face Mookie Betts with a man on second and two outs.
Jordan Shusterman
Wells delivers key insurance
Austin Wells has yo-yo'd in and out of the lineup lately as manager Aaron Boone has weighed Wells' offensive struggles against Jose Trevino's defensive impact, but the reality is that Wells' offensive ceiling is significantly higher even when he's going cold.
Swings like the one Wells delivered to send a Landon Knack heater to the second deck in right field are a nice reminder of that. That could be a huge insurance run for the Yankees, who now have a two-run cushion with 9 outs to go to avoid elimination.
Jack Baer
Shohei Ohtani swings and misses at ball four in a full count. He can clearly swing a bat, but it's beginning to look like the shoulder injury is affecting him.
Leiter Jr. gets Ohtani swinging with a runner on 2nd!
Knack proceeds to get the next three batters on eight pitches, capped by a Juan Soto strikeout. Mark Leiter Jr. enters to face the 8-9-1 of the Dodgers lineup.
Austin Wells leads off the bottom of the sixth with a homer after coming up just short on the fly ball that led to the Volpe baserunning gaffe. He was 4-for-43 in the postseason entering this game.
A much-needed insurance run for the Yankees.
Austin Wells gives the Yankees a little breathing room!
Holmes posts a 1-2-3 sixth inning. Nine more outs for the Yankees to force a Game 5.
Jack Baer
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Fox's Joe Davis hold up a sign for Dodgers radio voice Charley Steiner during the "Stand up to Cancer" segment. Steiner missed this season while battling multiple myeloma blood cancer and is now wheelchair-bound, down 50 pounds and dealing with constant back pain, but he was announced recently to be in remission.
Knack gets out of it to keep the bottom of the fifth scoreless. Clay Holmes stays in to face the Dodgers' 5-6-7 hitters.
Jack Baer
Aaron Judge reaches on a Tommy Edman error and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walks to put two on with no outs and Giancarlo Stanton up against Landon Knack in the fifth. Big chance for some insurance runs.
Jack Baer
FWIW ...
The team that's NOT doing a bullpen game (the Yankees) has now used as many pitchers tonight as the team that is (the Dodgers).
Hernández flies out on the first pitch, and the Yankees will go into the bottom of the fifth up one run. They are going to want to add to that.
Jake Mintz
Sloppy Yanks strike again
A horrendous feed from Gleyber Torres on that would-be double play leads to a run. Freddie Freeman and his bad ankle busted it down the first baseline, beating an Anthony Volpe throw that, with a better toss from Torres, would have gotten the out.
Instead, the Dodgers add another run, cutting the Yankees' lead to just one after a Will Smith solo shot to start the inning.
Jack Baer
And now the Yankees pull Tim Hill for Clay Holmes to face Teoscar Hernández with the tying run on first. This is already way more interesting than Yankees fans would want after the Volpe grand slam.
Jack Baer
Yankees 5, Dodgers 4
The call is overturned, and that's another run for the Dodgers, who have now had two double plays overturned via challenge. There's one on with two outs.
Mookie Betts hits into a fielder's choice, and then Freddie Freeman hits into what LOOKED like a double play. However, replay shows he was safe, and the Dodgers are now challenging the call at first.
Jack Baer
Shohei Ohtani welcomes Tim Hill with a line-drive single, and the Dodgers have the go-ahead run at the plate with no outs.
Jack Baer
All things considered, that was a solid start for Luis Gil, who had pitched only once in the past month. He limited the walks like few were expecting, and the runs against him came down to two big swings. It's better than other starts the Yankees have received this series.
Jack Baer
Anthony Volpe of the @Yankees is the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead grand slam in the World Series with his team facing elimination. pic.twitter.com/mDdBYeZWBj
Tommy Edman follows with a walk, and that will do it for Luis Gil. The Yankees pull him for lefty sidearmer Tim Hill to face Shohei Ohtani, with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman due up after.
Jack Baer
Yankees 5, Dodgers 3
On an 0-2 pitch, Will Smith cuts the lead to two runs with an opposite-field homer to lead off the fifth. Another of those homers that probably wouldn't have been a homer at Dodger Stadium, but they ain't playing at Dodger Stadium.
Knack allows a leadoff single, but a Gleyber Torres double play and Juan Soto groundout keep the inning scoreless. To the fifth we go, where Luis Gil takes the mound at 59 pitches.
Jack Baer
Landon Knack comes in for the Dodgers. He will probably be tasked with eating some innings unless the Dodgers' offense does something big soon.
Jake Mintz
October moment for Volpe
For 11.5 innings, the great October cathedral that is Yankee Stadium was a library, rendered silent by some of the most uninspired baseball you'll ever see. But with one swing, Anthony Volpe defibrillated the crowd into a deafening roar.
It might not matter in the end — the Dodgers are still in command of the series and might still win this game — but the Yankees faithful got a moment for the highlight reel. That it came from Volpe, a local kid who grew up a Yanks fan, was even better.
Jack Baer
One batter later, the inning is over. The Yankees are five innings away from forcing a Game 5.
Jack Baer
The call is overturned. The Dodgers have one on with two outs in the top of the fourth.
Jack Baer
And then Kiké Hernández hits into a double play to end the inning. The Dodgers are challenging the out call at first base, and it looks like they have a case.
Jack Baer
Max Muncy draws the Dodgers' first walk against Luis Gil. Much was made about Gil, the league leader in walks during the regular season, facing the top plate-discipline team in the league, but he didn't issue his first free pass until the fourth inning.
Jack Baer
Yankees fans had no issue with this one.
Nice little snag for Rizzo right up against the net!