After getting rocked early in the Fall Classic, the American League champs have been out on their feet.
It had been 15 years since the New York Yankees took the field in the Bronx for the World Series. Despite facing a steep 2-0 deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a herd of passionate fans flocked to Yankee Stadium with hopes of cheering the Bronx Bombers out of their postseason slump and back into the series.
However, the mighty roar of the crowd fell on deaf ears and the Yankee offense was shut out through eight innings. The Dodgers coasted to a 4-2 victory, leaving the Yankees on the brink of getting swept.
New York has failed to accumulate any offensive momentum for the second straight game, emphasizing the team has yet to fully recover from the heartbreaking walk-off loss they suffered in Game 1. While the Yankee offense remains at a stand-still, the Dodgers continue to pile on runs and coast to their eighth World Series title.
The matchup between baseball’s most iconic franchises originally forecasted a battle for the ages – Wilder vs Fury, Duran vs Leonard, Ali vs Frazier. After one swing of the bat, though, the rumble in the Concrete Jungle has come to a deafening silence with the series coming to more closely resemble Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul.
The Yankees suffered a gut punch in Game 1 of the World Series
Described as “one of the best Game 1s of all time” by ESPN insider Jeff Passan, last Friday night was an instant classic with an intense back-and-forth between the two best teams in the major leagues. The highly competitive contest became the third straight World Series Game 1 to reach extra innings.
With runners on the corners in the top of the tenth, Anthony Volpe grounded to a diving Tommy Edman who bobbled the transfer, allowing Jazz Chisholm Jr. to score and break the 2-2 standstill. Carrying a one-run lead into the bottom of the frame, the Yankees were three outs away from securing their first World Series win in 15 years.
The Bombers called on Jake Cousins to close the game against the bottom of the Dodgers order. After quickly retiring the first batter, Cousins surrendered a walk and a single to put runners on first and second with Shohei Ohtani coming to the plate.
In perhaps one of the most surprising managerial moves this season, Yankee skipper Aaron Boone called on Nestor Cortes Jr. to secure the final two outs against the top of the Dodgers order. Despite having Tim Hill – who had allowed just one hit through five innings this October – warm and ready to go, Boone took a gamble on the lefty pitcher who hadn’t thrown since September 18.
Cortes quickly retired Shohei Ohtani – with the help of an incredible defensive play from Alex Verdugo – then opted to intentionally walk Mookie Betts to face the left-handed Freddie Freeman with two outs and a force at any base. There, Freeman turned on Cortes’ initial offering, sending the first-pitch fastball into the stars for a walk-off grand slam.
The Yankees utilizing Cortes in such a high-leverage spot baffled the baseball world. When asked about this decision, former Yankee manager Joe Girardi noted that he wouldn’t have taken such a massive gamble.
“There’s no guarantee if you bring in Tim Hill that he’s going to get it done. But, obviously Tim Hill has been really good in the playoffs and is obviously sharper than probably Nestor Cortes.”
While Boone has defended his decision to hand the ball to Cortes, the Yankees have not been remotely the same since they dropped Game 1 in such heartbreaking fashion.
The Yankees have failed to respond in Games 2 and 3
After getting backed up against the ropes in Game 1, New York fully retreated into the corner in the following two games. Although the offense hadn’t necessarily been firing on all cylinders beforehand, it became entirely motionless in Games 2 and 3.
The Yankees’ biggest advantage entering this series was the struggling Dodgers starting rotation. The key to beating Los Angeles was attacking the starters and getting ahead early. However, the Bombers offense has fallen so flat that they have failed to capitalize in any way. Where the Dodgers’ starters had a 6.08 ERA entering the World Series, they have dominated the Yankees with a 1.62 ERA across 16 innings.
Through the first eight innings of Games 2 and 3, the Yankees mustered just one run – a solo shot from Juan Soto. Over the two-game span, the squad has struck out 18 times and left 14 runners on base while their team batting average has plummeted to just .186 in the World Series.
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Last night’s offensive display was particularly deflated. Any sense of urgency the Yankee offense still had was thrown out the window when they watched 24 four-seam fastballs go by for called strikes (second most by any team this season). Of the 55 fastballs they saw in the strike zone, only two were converted into hits.
While the team has shown a fight in the final innings, it’s simply too late to overcome eight-plus innings of uninspired nothingness.
The Yankees have yet to fight back after that fateful swing of Freddie Freeman, instead allowing the Dodgers to kick them while they’re down. Heading into what could be the final game of the season, time will tell if the Yankees can get up and throw a punch of their own.