NEW YORK – Walker Buehler had spent all year wondering if he would ever recapture who he was, with his fastball overwhelming and his confidence unparalleled. By the time he took the mound for Game 3 of the World Series, he had gone from searching to accepting to surviving over the past six months. If he wanted to give his Los Angeles Dodgers a chance in the biggest games, Buehler thought, he would essentially have to reinvent himself every time he tapped the rubber in October.

And then, somehow, in what may have been his last game as a Dodger, old Buehler showed up.

In front of a hostile Yankee Stadium crowd and against a desperate yet overwhelming New York Yankees lineup, Buehler powered through five scoreless innings, with a suddenly lively fastball, and set the tone in a grueling 4-2 victory Monday night. The Dodgers have now taken a commanding 3-0 lead in this World Series, just one win away from their first title in four years and their first regular-season championship since 1988. Buehler’s best self showed up just in time to put them there. .

“There are a lot of questions about him,” Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said. “But when those lights come on, this is the real Walker Buehler.”

Freddie Freeman, looking healthier than he had all month, immediately gave the Dodgers a two-run lead with a first-inning homer, his third in a series of six at-bats. Betts continued his turbulent October, going on a nine-pitch at-bat to drive in a run in the top of the third and make an extended catch in the bottom of the fourth. Overall, the Dodgers remained healthy on defense and stingy on offense.

But it was Buehler who set the tone, allowing just four baserunners — two via hit, two via walk — and striking out five. It was surprising, but it also felt familiar. Buehler previously pitched seven scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series and six innings of one-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the 2020 World Series. His 0.50 ERA is sixth-lowest for the first three World Series starts by a pitcher since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. It can’t be a coincidence.

“I think, as bold as it is to say, it takes adrenaline and stuff to really get me going mentally,” Buehler said. “I wish I had felt that all year. I can tell you I’m excited to pitch every game I’ve ever played, but there’s something different in the playoffs.

“For me personally, to make it through the playoffs is very encouraging in the long run because I know it’s in there and I just have to unlock it a little bit. But that feeling of there is an organization that today relies on me to win a play-off game – I think it’s the burden that I like to feel and that puts me in a certain place mentally, which is quite difficult to replicate.”

Buehler, a free agent at the end of the season, generated six swings and misses on his fastball, his most since 2021. That year, Buehler finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting, going 16-4 with an ERA of 2.47. He was 27 and looked like one of the best pitchers in the game. He then struggled through the first two and a half months of 2022 and underwent a second Tommy John surgery, which didn’t put him back atop a Major League mound until May of this season.

Buehler posted a 5.84 ERA through his first eight regular season starts and a 4.93 ERA through his last eight regular season starts. In between, he landed on the injured list with a hip injury and went on hiatus to a private performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, hoping to rediscover himself.

Buehler’s inclusion in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation was a product of the injuries that kept Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone from contributing. But October has brought out something else in him. It started in Game 3 of the NL Division Series, when Buehler gave up six runs in a second inning in which the Dodgers’ defense committed numerous errors, but followed with three scoreless innings to save the bullpen. In Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, he drove a very effective curveball to continually get out of trouble and hold the New York Mets scoreless for four innings. In Game 3 of the World Series, that fastball was back. So was everything else.

“I thought his stuff was as good as it has been all year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought the fastball had life. The cutter was good. The curveball was good. He threw all the quadrants and kept those guys honest, kept them at bay. There was no stress.”

Buehler found solace throwing from down the stretch in his last start from Citi Field. It’s much more tiring than throwing from the wind because he has to exert more force to throw at his normal speed, Buehler explained, but it keeps his mechanics tight. It can also be a tool to tamper with the opponent’s timing.

Buehler started Game 3 with a walk, but was followed by retiring Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in order. Shortly thereafter, he struck out four consecutive batters on four different pitches: a fastball, a curveball, a sweeper and a sinker. The Yankees threatened with a Stanton double and an Anthony Volpe single in the fourth, but Teoscar Hernandez shot Stanton at home to end the inning. Buehler then moved to second in the fifth inning, handing the game to the Dodgers’ high-leverage relievers.

Starting pitching was by far the Dodgers’ biggest concern, both in this series and during the playoffs. And yet Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Buehler combined to post a 1.62 ERA, smothering the Yankees’ biggest advantage and putting the team one win away from its first title since the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Buehler won his final two starts in those playoffs, blanking the Atlanta Braves with the Dodgers’ season on the line in Game 6 of the NLCS and returning the next round to pitch six innings of one-run ball against the Rays.

Four years later – after a period in which he went from dominant to bad, injured, recovering, ineffective and finally insecure – that man emerged again at the most important moment.

Buehler said, “It makes the regular season worth it for me.”