Volpe’s third-inning grand slam overcame Freddie Freeman’s record-setting home run, and the Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 victory Tuesday.
Anthony Volpe’s third-inning grand slam overcame Freddie Freeman’s record-setting home run, and the New York Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night that forced a Game 5.
Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second consecutive night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.
Seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York surged ahead 5-2 on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s drive against Daniel Hudson in the third. Volpe turned on a first-pitch slider at the knees and drove it into the left-field seats.
“I was hustling. I didn’t know I got it,” Volpe said. “And then I blacked out.”
Volpe scored New York’s first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the second inning and came home despite an uncharacteristic baserunning blunder that could have cost the Yankees a run. He also doubled and stole two bases.
“Amazing. Volpe, he did it all tonight,” Gleyber Torres said.
Austin Wells and Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.
“Good night for us and we get another opportunity tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Los Angeles closed within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith’s homer off starter Luis Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play on what originally was ruled an out but was reversed in a video review.
