Dodgers beat Yankees in Game 3, one win away from World Series championship

NEW YORK - What was believed to be a classic World Series matchup is shaping up to be an instant coronation for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And historians may ponder whether the New York Yankees showed up at all.

The Dodgers took a commanding World Series advantage by throttling the Yankees in Game 3, a 4-2 conquest Monday night that saw a burst of starting pitching excellence from Walker Buehler, Freddie Freeman's third home run in three games and more uninspired play from the Yankees, resulting in a sea of empty blue seats in the later innings.

The Dodgers lead this World Series 3-0, with Game 4 Tuesday night Yankee Stadium, a contest that could end in a big, blue dogpile at the pitcher's mound.

The Yankees seem powerless to stop that.

They were held to five hits in Game 3, going scoreless until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer off Michael Kopech.

How Game 3 unfolded:

Yankees on the board, but too late: Dodgers 4, Yankees 2

Alex Verdugo slugged a two-run home run in the ninth inning off Michael Kopech, but it was too little too late for the Yankees. Kopech got Gleyber Torres to ground out to the shortstop to end the rally and close out the game.

The Yankees now face elimination. The Dodgers are now one win away from another championship.

Dodgers end another scoring threat

The Yankees are down to their final six outs in Game 3.

Five Dodgers pitchers have combined to shut down the Yankees lineup through the first seven innings. The Yankees threatened to score again in the seventh inning, but Anthony Banda got Gleyber Torres to strike out with two runners on base.

LA adds another run: Dodgers 4, Yankees 0

The Dodgers add another run against the Yankees in the sixth inning. Kiké Hernández drove in Gavin Lux with an RBI single off of reliever Jake Cousins to extend the lead to 4-0.

Meanwhile, Dodgers starter Walker Buehler was replaced by Brusdar Graterol in bottom of the sixth. Buehler tossed five shutout innings and struck out five.

Giancarlo Stanton thrown out at the plate

NEW YORK - The New York Yankees' moribund offense finally got a hit, two, even And then a dazzling defensive play kept them off the scoreboard.

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández fielded an Anthony Volpe single on one hop and, with 6-6 slugger Giancarlo Stanton running as hard as he can with two outs, unleashed a throw that skidded on one hop to catcher WIll Smith - whose glove caught Stanton on the chest.

The 7-2 putout quieted an already subdued Yankee Stadium crowd and kept the score 3-0, Dodgers after four innings.

Dodgers extend lead: Dodgers 3, Yankees 0

NEW YORK - Three innings into Game 3 of the World Series and the gap only continues to widen between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

The Yankee starter, Clarke Schmidt, was lifted in the third inning with the bases loaded, trailing 3-0.

The Dodger starter, Walker Buehler, has allowed no hits and struck out five through three innings.

And in a game the Yankees must win after falling into a 2-0 Series deficit, the landscape is tilting once again in the Dodgers' favor.

They tacked onto their lead when Mookie Betts won a nine-pitch battle with Schmidt and dropped a one-out RBI single into right field in the third inning, scoring Tommy Edman, who read the play perfectly.

Reliever Mark Leiter Jr. did escape the eventual bases-loaded jam. But Yankee Stadium is very quiet. And the Yankees are running out of time.

Freddie Freeman does it again: Dodgers 2, Yankees 0

NEW YORK - Even with Shohei Ohtani playing with, essentially, one arm, the Los Angeles Dodgers are proving too powerful for the New York Yankees.

That's because Freddie Freeman is all the way back.

The Dodgers first baseman hit his third home run of this World Series in as many games and staked L.A. to a 2-0 lead in Game 3 before a sold-out crowd could even watch the Yankees bat in their first home Fall Classic game since 2009.

Freeman's walk-off grand slam turned this Series around, and now it might be getting out of reach. Ohtani, in the lineup even after a slight shoulder separation two days ago, drew a four-pitch walk from Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt and, after an out, Freeman spun a line drive into the seats just over the short right field fence, a 355-foot shot.

It was the fifth consecutive World Series game that Freeman homered, dating to the 2021 Series with Atlanta. That ties him with George Springer - and moves him ahead of Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig - for the longest streak in World Series history. All this coming after Freeman sat out a pair of games in the NLCS with a severe ankle injury suffered in late September.

Meanwhile, Yankees superstar Aaron Judge struck out in his first Yankee Stadium World Series plate appearance, and now has seven strikeouts in 10 at-bats.

Salvador Perez earns Roberto Clemente Award before Game 3

NEW YORK – Salvador Perez finally returned to the playoffs this year after a nearly decadelong absence. Yet his impact in Venezuela and Kansas City never really left.

Perez, the Royals’ nine-time All-Star catcher and a likely future Hall of Famer, received the Roberto Clemente Award Monday night in a Yankee Stadium ceremony before Game 3 of the World Series.

Perez, 34, has been previously nominated for baseball’s most notable honor for off-field community endeavors. He has provided food and medicine each winter for families in his Venezuelan hometown of Valencia, and also has paid for thousands of surgeries for children to repair cleft lips. Perhaps most notably, he aided in relief efforts in neighboring Colombia during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, entering hte country on foot when car travel was forbidden.

He's also donated $1 million to the Royals’ youth academy in Kansas City.

"If you pick just one day a month - two or three hours - to go have fun," says Perez Monday night before Game 3, "go make some kid happy, they're never, ever going to forget that." − Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Sports

Jose Trevino starts for Yankees, Austin Wells to bench

NEW YORK − One swing of the bat by Jose Trevino might have influenced Aaron Boone's thinking for Game 3.

Down two games to none in the 120th World Series, the Yankees have made one lineup change for Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Austin Wells is out of the lineup and Trevino is in at catcher, with Clarke Schmidt on the mound in an obviously critical Game 3, the first World Series game in the Bronx in 15 years.

Wells is 1-for-8 with three strikeouts in the Series so far, and the lefty-hitting rookie is batting just .098 this postseason (4-for-41) with a homer and three RBI.

Trevino has made just one start to date this postseason, when he caught Schmidt in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series at Cleveland, which the Yankees lost, 7-5, to the Guardians in 10 innings.

Trevino's first at-bat in the World Series ended Game 2 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. Serving as a pinch-hitter for Wells, he flied out to deep center with the bases loaded in a 4-2 Yankees loss. – Pete Caldera, NorthJersey.com

Jeter throws out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 3

With the New York Yankees hosting their first World Series game since 2009, the team had someone that was part of that last championship team throw out the first pitch.

Derek Jeter, a five-time World Series champion and the Yankees' all-time hits leader, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Monday.

The Baseball Hall of Famer spent all 20 seasons of his big league career in the pinstripes, and won his last World Series title with the franchise in 2009 when New York defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. In that series, Jeter was 11-for-27 − a .407 batting average − with one RBI and five runs scored. − Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY Sports

World Series Game 3 time tonight: Yankees vs. Dodgers

First pitch is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET on Monday at Yankee Stadium.

How to watch World Series Game 3

• TV: FOX

• Stream: Watch this game on Fubo (Regional restrictions may apply)

Shohei Ohtani injury update

NEW YORK — An awkward slide and a shoulder subluxation can't keep Shohei Ohtani out of the lineup for the World Series.

Ohtani will once again bat leadoff in Game 3 Monday night as the World Series shifts to New York, two days after the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar partially dislocated his left shoulder on a stolen-base attempt in Game 2.

Ohtani left the stadium immediately after the game, and after a day of both diagnostic tests and Ohtani expected to attempt swings off a tee and in a cage, the Dodgers determined he was good to go for Game 3.

Ohtani flew separately from the team Sunday after getting further testing and manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani would be in the lineup against New York Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt if he could manage the pain. The team does not believe Ohtani risks further injury by playing.

– Gabe Lacques

Yankees lineup today: Game 3

1. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B

2. Juan Soto (L) RF

3. Aaron Judge (R) CF

4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH

5. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 3B

6. Anthony Volpe (R) SS

7. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B

8. Jose Trevino (R) C

9. Alex Verdugo (L) LF

Dodgers lineup today: Game 3

1. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH

2. Mookie Betts (R) RF

3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B

4. Teoscar Hernández (R) LF

5. Max Muncy (L) 3B

6. Will Smith (R) C

7. Gavin Lux (L) 2B

8. Enrique Hernández (R) CF

9. Tommy Edman (S) SS

Yankee Stadium has to be a fortress: ‘We need our fans more than ever’

NEW YORK — It has been 15 years, nearly to the day, since Shane Victorino rolled a slow ground ball to second baseman Robinson Cano and, before Cano could even complete the throw to first, a sea of pinstriped gentlemen began streaming out of Yankee Stadium’s first base dugout to celebrate the team’s 27^th championship.

That 7-3 conquest of the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series was the last Fall Classic game contested in the Bronx, a dry spell that will be broken Monday night.

It is not what the Yankees wanted, coming home to a 2-0 deficit in this World Series, with a pair of dispiriting losses in Los Angeles that only provided so much consolation in the fact the Yankees went toe-to-toe with the Dodgers – who needed a walk-off Freddie Freeman grand slam to win Game 1 – only to come up short twice.

Enter the homefield advantage.

“I think we need our fans more than ever right now, for sure,” says first baseman Anthony Rizzo. “They back us, they pump us up, they put pressure on other teams. The Bronx is a special place. When that stadium is rocking, we feel it.

“We need every ounce of their energy coming into Monday.”

– Gabe Lacques

Simulated World Series: Game 3 goes to Dodgers

How will this year's World Series play out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner and DLB designer Mike Cieslinski will pre-play each game to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.

With a pair of big innings early, the Los Angeles Dodgers made quick work of the New York Yankees, rolling to a 9-5 victory in Game 3 of USA TODAY Sports' annual Simulated World Series.

The Dodgers jumped on Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt for three quick runs in the first, then knocked him out with a five-spot in the third on their way to taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

The Dodgers wasted no time in hammering Yankees Game 3 starter Clarke Schmidt. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts began the game with consecutive singles, but Schmidt looked like he might be able to get out of the inning unscathed when Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play.

Teoscar Hernandez put L.A. on top though with an RBI single and Max Muncy followed with a two-run homer into Yankee Stadium's short porch in right field and the Dodgers were on their way.

The first two Yankees also singled in the bottom of the first, but Aaron Judge grounded out and Dodger starter Walker Buehler struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm to end the threat.

Schmidt worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, but couldn't survive the third as Tommy Edman doubled in two, Miguel Rojas added an RBI single and Ohtani hit a mammoth blast to right center – all with two outs – to make it 8-0.

The Yanks did score twice in the eighth and got a three-run homer from Gleyber Torres in the ninth, but it wasn't enough.

– Steve Gardner

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers one win away from World Series championship