The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win in a surprising World Series sweep of the New York Yankees — and a second title in five years — after Freddie Freeman’s historic power streak continued to reduce a long-awaited showdown between baseball’s two most storied franchises to one-way traffic. traffic.

The Dodgers’ veteran first baseman tied George Springer’s record for homering in five consecutive World Series games during Monday night’s Game 3 with a two-run drive to the right field stands in the first inning, kicking off a 4-2 win that opened. a commanding three-games-to-none lead for Los Angeles in the best-of-seven tie.

“When you come into a road park, you want to try to strike early and quiet the crowd, and we were able to do that in the first inning,” said Freeman, an eight-time All-Star and the 2020 National League MVP.

The crackling atmosphere on a chilly 52F (11C) evening at Yankee Stadium, hosting its first World Series game in 15 years, reached deafening volumes after a ceremonial first pitch thrown by club legend Derek Jeter and a pre-game performance by South Bronx rapper Fat Joe – but the in-form Freeman wasted no time in putting the boisterous Bronx Zoo on their heels with one swing of the bat.

After Shohei Ohtani, playing two days after partially dislocating his left shoulder, walked on four pitches to start the game, followed by a flyout by Mookie Betts, Freeman hit a 1-2 cutter about five rows into the lower deck in right field to give Los Angeles a lead.

Walker Buehler and six relievers combined for a five-hitter for the Dodgers, who scored runs in the third through Betts and the sixth inning through Kiké Hernández. The shutout remained intact until the Yankees reached their final strike in the bottom of the ninth, when left fielder Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run off Dodgers reliever Ryan Brasier, which cut the deficit in half and flipped the lineup. But from then on, Braiser Gleyber lured Torres into a groundout to short the final out, putting the Yankees on the brink of a World Series sweep for only the fourth time in their record 41 appearances.

New York advanced a runner to second base only once against Buehler, when Giancarlo Stanton doubled in the fourth. But when Stanton was sent home on Anthony Volpe’s single to shallow left field, the hulking design hitter was gunned down at the plate on a perfect throw by Teoscar Hernández to preserve the 3-0 lead.

It was an inspired performance from the 30-year-old Buehler, who has starred on the postseason stage in the past but has struggled this season in his return from a second Tommy John surgery. His only win all year before Monday came back in May against the Cincinnati Reds before his campaign was derailed by a hip injury. Less so for New York starter Clarke Schmidt, who was chased before the end of the third after walking four.

“Walker Buehler has been doing this his entire career,” Freeman said. “Big games, big moments, he steps up when you need him. Five strong, strong innings, and our bullpen came in and did a great job. This is what you have to do, you have to pitch in October, and we did that.

The only team in Major League history to overcome a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series was the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, a comeback that was fueled by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. stolen base in Game 4.

“Hopefully we can tell this great story and shock the world,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But at the moment it’s about trying to get a lead, take a game and force another one and go from there. But we have to get one first.”

Three days after hitting the first walk-off grand slam in Fall Classic history, the 35-year-old Freeman became the third player to homer in the first three games of a World Series, following Hank Bauer in 1958 and Barry Bonds in 2002. The streak of five straight World Series games with a home run dates back to Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021.

Since Freeman’s Game 1 took place Friday night, the Yankees’ high-powered and expensive offense has been limited to four runs and nine hits over two games. They struck out 11 times in Monday’s loss, including four looks, while falling to 4-for-20 with runners in scoring position for the series.

Few have suffered as much as New York captain Aaron Judge, whose nightmarish World Series continued Monday when he went 0-for-3 with a walk, leaving him 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts through three games. The presumptive American League MVP is hitting just .140 (6-for-43) in the postseason with a .580 OPS and 20 strikeouts.

“I don’t do anything good for the team,” Judge said. “(I just have to) step it up, go for walks when I can, drive the baseball when I have something to hit.”

He may be running out of time. The Dodgers can clinch the franchise’s eighth World Series championship, and their first in a full season since 1988, with a win in Game 4 on Tuesday night in the Bronx. With three healthy starters remaining, Los Angeles is expected to throw their fourth bullpen game of these playoffs as rookie right-hander Luis Gil will take the mound for the Yankees.

The Dodgers and Yankees will meet in the World Series for the twelfth time, making it the most frequent meeting in Fall Classic history but the first in 43 years. It was once an interborough battle when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, but it has since become a bicoastal affair since their move to Los Angeles in 1958. Only one of their previous World Series meetings ended in a sweep, when the Dodgers won in 1963 won four in a row. Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.