Yankees stay alive in World Series, delay Dodgers’ celebration with Game 4 win: Highlights

NEW YORK - They are a team of giants, but one of their slightest figures kept their season alive.

The New York Yankees, facing elimination for the first time this postseason, resuscitated their season in Game 4 of the World Series not from a long ball from Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton or Juan Soto, but rather their 5-foot-9 shortstop whose power is at best, sporadic.

But Anthony Volpe's timing was divine: He cracked a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the third inning as the Yankees overcame the menace that is Freddie Freeman and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-4, before an invigorated crowd of 49,354 at Yankee Stadium.

The Dodgers lead the Series, 3-1, and the odds they cap off this season with their eighth championship in franchise history remains very high. But the Yankees will hand it off to ace Gerrit Cole in Game 5 on Wednesday night, with hopes of pushing the series back to Los Angeles.

Just, you know, to see what happens.

The Dodgers wasted their first chance to clinch as they employed their fourth bullpen game this postseason. And opening pitcher Ben Casparius handed a 2-1 lead to Daniel Hudson in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to Freeman's fourth home run in four games - and his second consecutive two-run shot in the top of the first inning.

But Hudson was erratic, hitting Judge with a pitch, giving up a single to Jazz Chisholm, nearly hitting Stanton before walking him. An out later, Volpe connected on a loud shot to left field, giving the Yankee Stadium crowd, at long last, plenty to cheer about.

Never mind the final score: This was a 5-4 game after five innings and 6-4 into the eighth. The Dodgers opted not to "chase" this game with their high-leverage relievers and stayed in it until Brent Honeywell gave up five runs, including Gleyber Torres' three-run homer and Judge's first RBI, on a single, in this World Series.

And so while this was the Dodgers' bullpen game, it was the Yankee relievers who stole the show, throwing five innings of one-hit ball. Closer Luke Weaver came on in the seventh, nursing that 6-4 lead, and struck out Mookie Betts, who represented the tying run.

He came back out for the eighth and got Freeman on a pop to center before blowing away Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy on strikeouts to maintain the lead.

And set up the eighth-inning pile-on, extending the Yankees' season at least one more night - and keeping the champagne iced.

– Gabe Lacques

Here's how Tuesday night's game unfolded at Yankee Stadium

Yankees break it open, take 11-4 lead

NEW YORK — While the Dodgers’ bullpen game eventually backfired, the Yankees received brilliant relief work from Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., and Luke Weaver until the Yanks broke it open.

Anthony Volpe’s hustling double and speed on the bases started a five-run eighth, capped by a three-run homer by Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge’s first World Series RBI, a sharp single to left.

Pete Caldera, NorthJersey.com

Austin Wells tacks on a run: Yankees 6, Dodgers 4

NEW YORK - Austin Wells is perking up just before it was too late to save the New York Yankees.

Wells hammered a Landon Knack pitch 384 feet for a solo home run in the sixth inning, extending the Yankees' lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers to 6-4 in Game 4 of the World Series.

Wells, the Yankee catcher, entered the game batting just .093 (4 for 43) this postseason, but he slammed a double 406 feet to center field in the second inning, leading to the Yankees' first run. His solo shot came at a crucial time, with the Dodgers having cut a 5-2 Yankees advantage to 5-4.

LA scores two more: Yankees 5, Dodgers 4

NEW YORK - Now, Game 4 is a bullpen battle on both sides.

Will Smith's home run in the fifth inning and a fielder's choice grounder shaved the New York Yankees' lead to 5-4, as  manager Aaron Boone removed starter Luis Gil after a walk and a home run.

That will leave it to the Yankees bullpen to hold down the potent Los Angeles Dodgers lineup and keep their season alive. So far, so good: Reliever Tim Hill gave up a single to Shohei Ohtani, who eventually scored when Gleyber Torres failed to quickly turn a double play. But he and Clay Holmes retired Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez to maintain the lead.

The Dodgers, too, are already on their third pitcher, Landon Knack, in a designed bullpen game.

Volpe's grand slam brings NY back to life: Yankees 5, Dodgers 2

NEW YORK - If a bullpen game is something of a house of cards, it finally came tumbling down in the third inning of World Series Game 4.

And Anthony Volpe jolted the New York Yankees back to life.

Reliever Daniel Hudson loaded the bases on a walk, hit batter and single and nearly escaped. But Volpe punished him, crushing a first-pitch slider 390 feet to left field for a grand slam and a 5-2 Yankees lead.

It's New York's first lead since the 10th inning of Game 1, and it came just as the Dodgers entered the danger zone of their bullpen relay. Starter Ben Casparius handed off a 2-1 lead to Hudson, who in turn was to get it to longer man Landon Knack.

But Hudson was wild, plunking Aaron Judge and nearly hitting Giancarlo Stanton before walking him. Anthony Rizzo popped to short, but Volpe made sure they did not strand the bases loaded, striking a mighty blow that may very well force a Game 5 on Wednesday.

As Volpe jogged back to his position, the sellout crowd chanted his name until he acknowledged their salute.

Yankees cut lead in half: Dodgers 2, Yankees 1

Alex Verdugo and the New York Yankees cut the lead in half with a fielders choice in the bottom of the second of Game 4 of the World Series. And Los Angeles Dodgers rookie starter Ben Casparius did exactly what he was supposed, keep the game close and let the bullpen take over. Daniel Hudson takes the mound for the Dodgers in the third inning.

Fan interference: Fans tries to rip ball from Betts' glove

NEW YORK - No matter how expensive World Series tickets are, it does not afford fans the right to interfere with the field of play.

Nor pry the ball from Mookie Betts.

A pair of New York Yankees fans were escorted from their seats down the right field line after one was called for fan interference on a foul pop fly off the bat of New York Yankees leadoff batter Gleyber Torres in Game 4 of the World Series Tuesday night.

Right field umpire Mark Carlson immediately signaled fan interference. But that wasn't the end of it.

A fan seated next to the one called for interference tried prying the ball out of Betts' glove, a sheepish grin on his face. The other fan seemed to complain that the ball was within the seating area, and thus fair game.

Neither got a baseball nor won the argument. They were escorted from their seats quickly by stadium security and a Major League Baseball spokesperson confirmed the fans were ejected.

Freddie Freeman homers AGAIN: Dodgers 2, Yankees 0

NEW YORK - Freddie Freeman isn't singlehandedly lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series title. But this is about as close as one can get.

Freeman homered for the fourth consecutive game Tuesday, and for the second consecutive night, crushed a two-run, first inning home run to quiet the Yankee Stadium crowd before they could even settle.

This time, it was a 343-foot missile into the right field seats off right-hander Luis Gil's slider, one at-bat after Mookie Betts doubled, and it gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

It was also a record-setting sixth consecutive World Series game in which Freeman homered, dating to the 2021 World Series with Atlanta.

Now, the Dodgers are truly 27 outs away from a championship.

Was that an omen for the Yankees?

Five-time World Series champion Paul O'Neill threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 4. But the former All-Star outfielder airmailed former Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett behind the plate.

He asked for a re-do.

The second one bounced to Burnett.

Play Ball!

3-0 comebacks: 'Don’t talk about that'

The Yankees are in a big hole, facing elimination down three-games-to-none to the Dodgers in the World Series.

Only one team has ever comeback from a three-games-to-none deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series − the 2004 Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. And yes, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a huge stolen base for the Red Sox in the ninth inning of Game 4 that changed the course of history.

But don't ask him for any advice.

“Don’t talk about that,” Roberts said after the Dodgers' 4-0 win in Game 3. “Wrong guy. Way too early.”

In World Series history, prior to this season, 24 teams went up three games to none, and 21 of them completed the sweep with a win in Game 4. The last team to force a Game 5 when down 3-0 in the World Series was the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Dodgers lineup: World Series Game 4

1. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH

2. Mookie Betts (R) RF

3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B

4. Teoscar Hernández (R) LF

5. Max Muncy (L) 3B

6. Enrique Hernández (R) CF

7. Gavin Lux (L) 2B

8. Will Smith (R) C

9. Tommy Edman (S) SS

Yankees lineup: World Series Game 4

1. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B

2. Juan Soto (L) RF

3. Aaron Judge (R) CF

4. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 3B

5. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH

6. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B

7. Anthony Volpe (R) SS

8. Austin Wells (L) C

9. Alex Verdugo (L) LF

Silence at Yankee Stadium: Judge, sluggers go quiet

NEW YORK – They are playing a baseball game between the lines but staging an assault on the senses between every pitch, every inning, every sustainable break in the action in this World Series.

Be it celebrity pleas for more noise from Ken Jeong in Los Angeles to Flavor Flav in the Bronx, or blaring sirens and pounding organs, Yankee Stadium and its Dodger counterpart crank the volume to 11, ostensibly to engage the masses and fill in the gaps in a game that can provide many of them.

But Monday night, in Game 3 of the World Series, the Yankees’ continued futility inspired another, far different aural sensation.Silence.

After a 15-year wait, World Series baseball returned to Yankee Stadium, and 49,368 fans jammed into the ballpark, eager for an electric moment, the kind that inspired an average price of nearly $2,000 on the resale market.

But the Yankees again proved incapable of providing juice organically, their high-priced lineup reduced to a series of flails and fails – and now this World Series is on the verge of ending almost as quickly as it began.

– Gabe Lacques

Hobbled Freddie Freeman playing World Series superhero for Dodgers

NEW YORK — Freddie Freeman, who needs nearly five hours of treatment each day for his badly sprained ankle, may not have the luxury of using ice when he arrives Tuesday night for Game 4 of the World Series. The Dodgers will need all of that ice to assure they keep those hundreds of bottles of champagne and beer cans cold for the raucous celebration they’re planning.

The Dodgers are on the brink of capturing the World Series title after beating the New York Yankees once again Monday, 4-2, in front of a subdued crowd at Yankee Stadium. A sweep provides them more time to get ready for their first World Series parade since 1988.“We want that parade," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We never got a chance to celebrate with the city of Los Angeles. That's something of incentive.

“But outside of that, you have an opportunity to be a world champion. So, we're right there. That's more than enough incentive and motivation."

Freeman doesn't need the motivation. What he’s doing now, night after night, homer after homer on baseball’s biggest stage, is cementing a legacy that may never be forgotten in Dodgers history.

– Bob Nightengale

Yankees play with lineup for Game 4

NEW YORK – Aaron Boone has tinkered with his lineup a bit, but probably not how Yankees Universe envisioned.

Going into a potential-elimination World Series Game 4 against the Dodgers on Tuesday night, the Yankees’ manager has slid Giancarlo Stanton out of the cleanup spot.

Stanton is batting fifth, with lefty-hitting Jazz Chisholm Jr. moved up to No. 4, after the slumping Aaron Judge – just 1-for-12 in the Series, with a single and seven strikeouts. Lefty-hitting Austin Wells is back in the lineup at catcher, instead of Jose Trevino, with the Dodgers planning a bullpen game to clinch a world championship at Yankee Stadium.

"I was going to do it (in Game 3)," Boone said of sliding Stanton down one spot. "But with (Game 4) being a bullpen day, I just wanted to create as much balance as I could. And this is more in line with, kind of, the lineup I've had all year," said Boone. "We're rolling with what got us here."

As for considering any other lineup changes, Boone said he thought about moving Judge up to the leadoff spot, "but then I'm moving Gleyber (Torres) out of there (and he's) been our catalyst this whole postseason.

"At the end of the day, it's Aaron Judge, and his greatness I trust is going to show up" in the No. 3 spot, said Boone.

– Pete Caldera, NorthJersey.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers vs Yankees highlights: NY stays alive in World Series Game 4