If this was indeed Walker Buehler’s last appearance with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it sure was memorable.
The soon-to-be free agent absolutely shoved as the kids say, shutting out the Yankees over five innings en route to a 4-2 Dodgers victory. Buehler was masterful, mixing his pitches up perfectly to all quadrants of the strike zone. He also kept New York hitters grossly off balance by oscillating between a dominant cutter, a lively knuckle curve, a tight sweeper, and a fastball that sat between 95-96 miles per hour for the majority of his start.
Buehler only allowed two hits over the five innings and struck out five for good measure. His ability to establish his fastball early was imperative in keeping the Yankees at bay. He was helped out in the top of the first by Freddie Freeman. In classic Freeman World Series form, he connected on a Clarke Schmidt fastball and sent it over the short porch in right field. It marked the fifth-straight World Series game in which Freeman has hit a homer.
From there, the Dodgers were methodical in taking care of business. Buehler was buoyed by two fantastic fielding plays by Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez respectively. To snuff out a possible rally, Betts made a diving catch of a sinking line drive hit by Jazz Chisholm. Later in the inning, Hernandez fielded an Anthony Volpe bloop single and gunned down Giancarlo Stanton at home trying to score from second base.
Enrique Hernandez continued his strong postseason with two more hits. Even with Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy, Will Smith, Gavin Lux, and Tommy Edman all going hitless, the Dodgers still managed to produce when needed.
As for the Yankees, the offense was utterly dormant until Alex Verdugo hit a 2-run homer off Michael Kopech with two outs in the 9th inning. Coincidentally, that would not have been a homer at Dodger Stadium. Aaron Judge continued with his horrific form — striking out yet again and going hitless in three at-bats. The Dodgers also did a good job in stymieing the top of the Yankees order. Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto, Judge, and Chisholm combined to go 0-17. If you add Stanton’s two hits, New York’s 1-5 hitters went 2-21.
In a must-win Game 4 situation, Luis Gil is likely to take the mound for the Yankees. LA will go with a bullpen game — likely starting with Brent Honeywell Jr.
