Perhaps the Yankees will achieve something that has never been accomplished in the illustrious history of a World Series and overcome an 0-3 deficit. It will be difficult and odds are against them
Tuesday evening in the Bronx, as they vowed to do, the Yankees staved off elimination in this World Series with the Dodgers. They said after going down 0-3 in the best-of-seven it was going to be a fight. Something epic and historic was going to occur and the Dodgers would not sweep them in four games and on their turf.
They lived up to their word with a commanding 11-4 in Game 4. They hit three home runs, overcame another Freddie Freeman home run, a two-run blast in the first inning. And they got a good start from rookie Luis Gil, a bullpen that kept the fight going.
Game 5 is at Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening. They live another day and have their ace Gerrit Cole giving them a chance to force a Game 6 Friday night in Los Angeles, a rematch of Game 1 opposing the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty.
All along this 0-3 deficit the Yankees said they would pull off a historic win in this World Series, it’s never been done before, a team in the Fall Classic overcoming a deficit this large and winning it all.
They said one game and took it from there. Of course, the Yankees were not going to be swept in four games and at home in the Bronx. The Dodgers parade in Los Angeles and their second World Series championship in five years waits another day,
They sent their message and they don’t plan to go down without a fight.
This World Series belongs to the Dodgers, 3-1, but the Yankees know it’s a task to win four straight, no team has overcome an 0-3 deficit and won it all.
But if the Yankees have a say in this, they have to continue the onslaught. Game 4, another capacity crowd 49,354, again hushed when Freeman hit a two-run home run in the first inning off of Gil.
Fourth in the series for the potential series MVP, but the Yankees showed their fight and were the resilient bunch they have been known to be.
Anthony Volpe with a grand slam homer and Austin Wells’ home run, the first pair of Yankees teammates age 26 or younger to homer in the same World Series game since Tony Kubek and Mickey Mantle in 1957 of Game 3.
“We’ve been through so much the whole year,” said Volpe who had been 1-for-12 in the series. Volpe entered the Yankee record books and having the thrill of hearing a crowd cheer “Volpe, Volpe” that had been heard so many times with those Yankees legends of World Series fame.
He is now the first player in World Series history to record four RBI and two steals in a game, something he envisioned growing up as a Yankees fan, though not as dramatic and significant as this.
He said, “We’re not going to go down easy at all.” Of course, the Yankees prevented a Dodgers celebration on their home turf. Gil for the most part did his job and manager Aaron Boone had his bullpen worked to perfection. Luke Weaver retired all four batters he faced, three strikeouts on 21 pitches. After the Yankees blew the game open, Boone lifted Weaver to keep him ready for game 5 tonight.
However, it was more than Volpe. More than the pitching as the Yankees also scored off a Dodgers bullpen game, a plan manager Dave Roberts had for Game 4. It didn’t work, then again the plan was to go with Flaherty in Game 5. And the Yankees will not be intimidated because they are trying to pull off what seems to be impossible, all along, though Boone and his team said they would continue the fight.
They scored their most runs in the series, only seven coming in the first three games. A Yankees offense that got production from the bottom of their lineup without Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, or Giancarlo Stanton having an impact. Judge, though, got ignited with an RBI, perhaps a hit that will get him going.
No team has forced a Game 6 after trailing 3-0 in the World Series, the Yankees again taking this first step to defy those odds. And Volpe also showed an All-Star glove in the infield, also getting some rave reviews.
“You finally got to see the top blow off Yankee Stadium in a World Series game,” Boone said. It was also Boone’s first win managing a World Series game.
Overall, though, that Volpe grand slam was the ignition, a spark to the Yankees offense that saw him, catcher Austin Wells, and Alex Verdugo combine for five hits. Wells with a home run in the sixth inning, and Gleyber Torres with a home run in the 8th, against a Dodgers pitching relief core that witnessed this Yankees willingness to continue their fight.
And the Volpe blast was the first in history to hit a go-ahead grand slam when facing elimination in World Series history.
Jazz Chisholm Jr said “We came out there and attacked them. What we had to do continue to fight.” And Roberts said nobody expected the Yankees to not continue their fight.
Regardless the Dodgers still have an advantage, the odds are still against the Yankees. Certain, though, are the Yankees going with their ace, Gerrit Cole, in Game 5. They plan to take this to a Game 5, force a Game 6, and a decisive Game 7.
They finally broke out Tuesday night in the Bronx. Remember the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” of that Ali-versus Frazier rivalry of 50-years ago. It was not that type of fight, but the Yankees had their version and are not laying down.
Rich Mancuso X (Twitter) @Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso