LA Dodgers one victory away from World Series win

The Dodgers can win their second World Series championship in five years tonight when they face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 4-2 victory in Game 3 Monday at Yankee Stadium with Walker Buehler pitching five scoreless innings and Freddie Freeman hitting a two-run home run in the first inning.

All 24 previous teams that have taken a 3-0 World Series lead have gone on to win the Series. Teams with a 3-0 Series lead have won the World Series in Game 4 21 times with the three exceptions being the Baltimore Orioles in 1970 against the Cincinnati Reds; the Yankees in 1937 against the New York Giants; and Philadelphia Athletics in 1910 against the Chicago Cubs.  

All three teams went on to win the World Series in Game 5.   

Buehler (1-1) allowed two hits over five innings, struck out five and walked two becoming the first pitcher with three or more World Series outings of five innings or more with four or fewer baserunners allowed, according to Sarah Langs, a Major League Baseball researcher.

Buehler accomplished the feat in his first three World Series appearances.   

Freeman hit a 1-2 cutter from Yankee starter Clarke Schmidt 355 feet over the right field fence for his third home run of the Series. It was the fifth consecutive Series game Freeman has homered, dating back to the 2021 Series with the Atlanta Braves, tying the record set by George Springer of the Houston Astros in 2019.  

The home run drove in Shohei Ohtani who drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, two days after suffering what tests revealed was a shoulder subluxation, manager Dave Roberts said on Monday.

Roberts said an MRI examination determined there was no structural damage to the shoulder.

Ohtani suffered the injury attempting to steal second base in the seventh inning of Saturday's 4-2 Game 2 victory. A shoulder subluxation is a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint.

Ohtani also reached base in the ninth when he was hit by a pitch. He was hitless in three at-bats with a strikeout.   

The Dodgers added to their lead with RBI singles by Mookie Betts in the third and Kiké Hernandez in the sixth.   

New York ended the Dodgers' bid for a shutout with two outs in the ninth when former Dodger Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run off Michael Kopech, the last of seven Dodger pitchers.

Schmidt (0-1), the first of eight Yankee pitchers, was charged with the loss, allowing three runs on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked four before a crowd announced at 49,368.

The lack of healthy starting pitchers has forced Roberts to employ a bullpen game for the fourth time in the postseason Tuesday. The Dodgers have won two of their previous three postseason bullpen games.

Rookie right-hander Luis Gil will pitch for the Yankees. Gil was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in the regular season. The Yankees were 19-10 in his starts, tying for the seventh-most among American League starters.

Gil's 17 starts of one or zero runs allowed were tied for first in the majors with Detroit's Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox.

Gil's 15 victories tied for seventh in MLB and were most among rookies.   

Gil was selected as both the American League Pitcher of the Month and Rookie of the Month for May when he was 6-0 with a 0.70 ERA in six starts.   

Gil did not figure in the decision in the Yankees' 6-4 victory over the Dodgers June 9 when he allowed three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, walked four and struck out six. Ohtani is hitless in three at-bats against Gil.   

Gil will be making his second postseason appearance Tuesday. He pitched the first four innings of New York's 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series Oct. 18, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out three and walking three. The Yankees led 3-2 when he was relieved but he did not figure in the decision because he did not pitch the minimum five innings.

ESPN's matchup predictor gives New York a 53.9% chance of winning, the Dodgers a 46.1% chance.

The 5:08 p.m. game will be televised by Fox.