Japanese star, Shohei Ohtani, played despite nursing a shoulder injury as the Los Angeles Dodgers are now one game away from completing a series sweep and winning the World Series for the second time in five years.
This comes after the Dodgers went 3-0 up in the best-of-seven series against the New York Yankees at the Yankee Stadium on Monday night, with Ohtani scoring on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer but ultimately going 0 for 3 with a walk and getting hit by a pitch as he showed discomfort from the injury picked up after partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2 of the World Series.
It didn’t stop the Dodgers from racing to a 4-0 lead in Game 3 in New York, before holding off a late rally from the home side led by Alex Verdugo’s late two-run homer to seal a 4-2 victory to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Ohtani drew a leadoff walk and Freddie Freeman smashed his third home run of this World Series. After Mookie Betts drove in Tommy Edman for 3-0, Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt was pulled before the end of the third inning.
Meanwhile, the Yankees stayed in the contest by stranding five Dodgers baserunners in the next two innings to finally register a first hit with a Giancarlo Stanton double in the fourth. However, Teoscar Hernandez’s throw in left field nailed Stanton at the plate when he looked set to score on an Anthony Volpe line drive.
The Dodgers added another run in the sixth when Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch, stole second base and was batted in by Enrique Hernandez. And the Yankees continued to struggle as they did in the last game against the Dodgers until Verdugo’s late effort.
The series continues on Tuesday evening, again at Yankee Stadium, with the hosts needing to win to avoid a humiliating 4-0 sweep. No team has ever come from 3-0 down to win a World Series.