Buehler, Freeman give Dodgers a 3-0 World Series lead

10/28/2024 11:45 PM

Buehler goes five scoreless, Freeman homers, and the Dodgers are one win away from a title

Walker Buehler continued his scoreless streak, Freddie Freeman continued his home run streak, and the Dodgers are now one win away from a championship. Los Angeles got the better of the Yankees for a third straight game, winning 4-2 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium, by continuing the per and pitching pattern.

The Dodgers lead 3-0 in the series, just the second time they've led a World Series three games to none, along with 1963.

Buehler is a professional Game 3 starter, having done so in all three postseason series this year. But also, all three of his career World Series starts have been in the third game, and he delivered yet again on Monday.

Buehler struck out five in five scoreless innings, with a fastball that's looked as crisp as any point this year. He threw four-seamers for 34 of his 76 pitches, and got six swinging strikes on the pitch, his most since 2021.

Buehler allowed only two hits, and both came in the fourth inning. Giancarlo Stanton was on second base thanks to his double, and was sent home on a two-out single by Anthony Volpe. It was the kind of aggressive send by a third base coach of a team with only five runs in 21-plus innings to that point in the series, but it didn't work, thanks to a great throw by Teoscar Hernández to nail Stanton at the plate.

It's been a trying year for Buehler, but he's ending on a high note. After the defense-exacerbated six-run second inning in San Diego in the NLDS, Buehler has pitched 12 scoreless innings since.

In his three career World Series starts, Buehler has allowed one total run on seven hits in 18 innings, with 22 strikeouts and three walks.

During this series, Dodgers starting pitchers have allowed three runs in 16⅔ innings, with 15 strikeouts and five walks. It's the first time they've had three starting pitchers in a row complete five innings in the postseason since Games 1-3 of the 2021 NLDS.

Every pitch Buehler threw came with a lead, thanks to Freddie Freeman starting things off with a two-run home run in the first inning.

Freeman is just the third player ever with home runs in each of the first three games of a World Series, and he joined Bill Madlock (1985 NLCS) as the only Dodgers to homer in three straight postseason games.

The Dodgers stranded the bases loaded in the third inning, but also chased a Yankees starting pitcher early for a second straight game. On Monday, Clarke Schmidt only got eight outs in his 67 pitches, and his four walks ended his night early.

Schmidt allowed only two hits, but both drove in players who walked. Mookie Betts had a flyball single of Schmidt earlier in the third to score Tommy Edman.

The lead was 4-0 when the Dodgers turned to their high-leverage arms.

Two reached against Brusdar Graterol in the sixth inning, but Alex Vesia escaped. Two more reached against Daniel Hudson and Anthony Banda, with Banda getting out of the seventh unscathed on a "strike three that was high," as Joe Davis described it on his Fox call.

Ryan Brasier was tasked with the heart of the Yankees order in the eighth, and lived to tell abut it. He walked Aaron Judge, but struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The Yankees finally broke the dam against Michael Kopech in the ninth with a walk and a home run by Alex Verdugo, preventing the shutout. That got New York to within 4-2, but Kopech got Gleyber Torres to ground out to end the game.

The Dodgers have doubled the Yankees in all three games. Three wins down, one win to go.

World Series Game 3 particulars

Home runs: Freddie Freeman (3), Alex Verdugo (1)

WP — Walker Buehler (1-1): 5 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP — Clarke Schmidt (0-1): 2⅔ IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts

Up next

It's bullpen game time as the Dodgers go for the sweep in Game 4 on Tuesday night (5:08 p.m. PT, Fox). Given the series lead, the aggressive use of high-leverage relievers in the first three games, and potentially three games in a row in New York, Brent Honeywell, Ben Casparius, and Landon Knack should probably figure prominently in LA's mound plans on Tuesday. The Yankees will counter with Luis Gil on the mound, trying to keep their season alive.