The Yankees are heading back to the Bronx in an 0-2 World Series hole after a ninth-inning rally fell just short in a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night in Game 2 when Austin Wells flew out with the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth inning.
After being held to just one run on one hit — a Juan Soto home run in the sixth — entering their final turn at-bat down 4-1 against Dodgers closer Blake Treinen, singles from Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jazz Chisholm made it a two-run game with one out and the tying runs on base. Treinen then hit Anthony Rizzo to load the bases but struck out Anthony Volpe for the second out.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Alex Vesia for the final out, which he did by getting Wells to fly out to center on the first pitch he saw.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto shut down the Yankees in his World Series debut — the young Japanese star allowed just one run on one hit in 6.1 innings of work with four strikeouts and two walks.
Soto accounted for each of the Yankees’ first two hits in Game 2, the other coming in the top of the ninth with a lead-off single off the right-field wall. After advancing on a wild pitch from Dodgers closer Blake Treinen, he came in to score on a Giancarlo Stanton bullet single that ricocheted off the third-base bag.
With the Dodgers two wins away from their second title in four years, the Fall Classic shifts back to the Bronx where the Yankees host Games 3, 4, and 5 beginning Monday night.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon was tagged for three home runs, including back-to-back jacks by Teoscar Hernandez and Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman, who became the first player ever to hit a walk-off grand slam at a World Series just 24 hours earlier.
It was the second straight night a Yankees’ starter was ultimately outdueled — an asset that was expected to be the Yankees’ largest advantage over Los Angeles. But Jack Flaherty kept pace with New York ace Gerrit Cole in the Dodgers’ thrilling 6-3, 10-inning victory in Game 1 before Rodon lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts on Saturday night.
NLCS MVP Tommy Edman got to him in the second inning, turning on an inside fastball and sending it over the left-field fence to put Los Angeles up 1-0.
Soto answered in the top of the third with his fourth home run of the postseason, which was Yamamoto’s only blemish of the night as he retired the final 11 batters he faced.
The Dodgers punched back with a two-out rally that featured three runs on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the third to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
After Rodon got Miguel Rojas to fly out and Shohei Ohtani to strike out, Mookie Betts singled before Hernandez took the Yankees’ starter out to right-center field. Six pitchers later, Freeman took Rodon out to right-center to make it a 4-1 game.
While nearly everything has gone right for the Dodgers this series, they were forced to hold their breath after Ohtani hurt his shoulder while he was caught stealing at second base.
