About Last Night: Yanks Fall Behind 3-0 in World Series with 4-2 Loss in Game 3

By Andy Singer

October 29th, 2024

The Big Story

If you wanted to sum up the Yankees' performance in the World Series with one play, Game 3 at Yankee Stadium gave us that play. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning, Giancarlo Stanton reached base with a booming one-out double down the left field line. In the following at-bat, Jazz Chisholm lined out to right field, but it looked like the Yankees were starting to connect with Dodger starter Walker Buehler's pitches. Following Chisholm, Anthony Volpe worked a 6-pitch at-bat, finally shooting a single through the left side. This was more than enough to move the runners to the corners with Giancarlo Stanton, among the slowest runners in baseball, standing at 2nd base when Volpe connected. For the first time, it looked like the Yankees were ready to rally.

Inexplicably, 3rd Base Coach Luis Rojas waved Giancarlo Stanton around 3rd base. Stanton was thrown out easily at home plate, and in a blink, the threat was extinguished by the Dodgers. For all intents and purposes, the game ended right there. It felt like all of the oxygen was sucked out of the offense with that one play.

Elsewhere around the diamond, the Yankees bent, but didn't totally break. Clarke Schmidt lasted just 2.2 innings, flashing good stuff, but also showing rust with his command. Seemingly every time Schmidt tried to find the edge of the zone with a pitch, it was way off the plate. However, the bullpen really picked him up last night. The Yankee bullpen pitched 6.1 innings of 1-run ball, often working out of jams, the first of which really kept the Yanks in the ballgame. Mark Leiter Jr., who wasn't originally in the Yankees' plans for this playoff season, came into the game in the 3rd inning with 2 outs and the bases loaded. Showing real guts, Leiter got Will Smith to ground out to end the inning. The magic was gone the next inning, but Nestor Cortes was there to save Leiter, striking out Ohtani and getting Mookie Betts to line out to Verdugo. Pitching was not the problem even despite a short start from Clarke Schmidt, though the Yanks fell behind early as they have in every game this series.

Beyond plays that beat themselves and tough pitching, the Yankee offense remains ice cold. Aaron Judge is clearly battling either an injury or his mechanics (or both), because Buehler was able to throw mid-90s fastballs through the heart of the zone with seeming impunity. Yankee Stadium leapt to their feet when Judge made contact with the first pitch in the bottom of the 4th, even though the sound off the bat clearly indicated that he had hit Buehler's hanging curve off the end of the bat. Only Stanton had multiple hits, and the Yanks really struggled to string consecutive baserunners together. Alex Verdugo, who has struggled mightily at the plate all postseason, showed mettle with his two-run shot in the 9th, but by then it felt like the game was over for the Yanks.

As Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over 'til it's over," but a 3-0 deficit to the Dodgers feels nearly insurmountable.

Notable Performances

Giancarlo Stanton: 2-4, 1 K

Gleyber Torres: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 K

Alex Verdugo: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

Anthony Rizzo: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Yankee Bullpen: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 ER

Better To Forget

Aaron Judge: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Trevino and Wells: 0-4, 2 K

Jazz Chisholm Jr.: 0-4, 1 K

Anthony Volpe: 1-4, 3 K

Clarke Schmidt: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 3 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 3 ER

My Take

When the World Series started, I said that I was really just happy that the Yankees made it. As long as they played hard, I thought I'd be okay with any outcome. I have since realized that I am totally lying to myself; these last three losses have really hurt, and they've come in a manner that was all too predictable.

Watching the talent between the Dodgers and the Yankees, I actually think the teams are very evenly matched; the root cause of this World Series disaster is not a roster construction issue (mostly; we'll talk about that in a minute). The Dodgers play sound baseball; they don't get thrown out due to terrible baserunning decisions; they work pitchers; they play solid defense, and they have a manager that keeps his decision making fluid based on game situations. The Yankees have been the antithesis of all of those things under Aaron Boone.

We have all said that the Yankees are almost more capable of beating themselves than other teams are. We've seen that throughout the playoffs this year. Now though, the Yanks have a worthy opponent that can punish them for self-inflicted mistakes. Again, Luis Rojas forgot that one of the slowest runners in baseball was rounding third base and effectively killed any chance the Yankees had of winning the game. It's not fair to Stanton that most of us will remember him getting thrown out at home by a country mile when we think about the 2024 World Series; Stanton has been one of the few Yankees trying to carry the team, and I hate that we'll remember this play above some of his other heroics.

If there's one other thing this Yankee team has reminded us, it's of their annual disappearing act in the playoffs. We have also watched the Yankees get destroyed by left-handed specialists just as they have the Dodgers on the ropes. I beat the table repeatedly for the Yankees to go get a platoon bat for Alex Verdugo, Anthony Rizzo, or any of the other platoon bats in the everyday Yankee lineup. Lane Thomas or Mark Cahna (my two favorite options) were available for reasonable prices. Instead, the Yankees weren't honest about their core needs. They've paid for it in the playoffs, and now it's biting them in the World Series.

The difference between the Dodgers and the Yankees isn't talent; it's coaching. If that doesn't haunt Yankee management, it should.

Miracles can happen; I'm not giving up hope yet, but it's getting late early. I feel for Aaron Judge, but this team needs him to dig way down deep to find something to give this team a spark. Soto and Stanton are great, but the sad reality is that they do not take over games the way Aaron Judge can, and must. Let's cross our fingers and hope the Yanks make a series of it.

Looking To Tomorrow

The Yanks face a bullpen game in the Bronx in Game 4. The rumor is that Luis Gil will start for the Yankees; I can't help but wonder if that strategy changes.