The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off a late comeback Friday night and now can take a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees before the World Series shifts to the East Coast for the next week.
The Dodgers have not taken a 2-0 series lead in any postseason matchup since the 2020 National League Division Series, when they swept the San Diego Padres.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the mound for his fourth postseason start and coming off an encouraging outing. The right-hander has been improved since struggling in his playoff debut and certainly has the Dodgers’ confidence.
“I think the thing that excites me is his temperament, poise, the ability to control his emotions and still make pitches,” manager Dave Roberts said before Game 2.
“Yeah, first World Series appearance, and he’ll be ready.”
Yamamoto turned in the best start of his rookie season when facing the Yankees in June. He held them to just two hits and collected seven strikeouts over seven shutout innings at Yankee Stadium.
“I think the experience from June will benefit me a little bit, but this is the World Series and the lineup might also probably be different from June,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
“I’m going to just study and get myself ready.”
The Yankees counter with Carlos Rodón, who has some prior experience against the Dodgers from his time pitching for the San Francisco Giants in 2022.
Rodón allowed just two runs in his last postseason start, but only completed 4.2 innings. He went six innings against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
The southpaw struggled some against the Kansas City Royals in his 2024 postseason debut, giving up four runs over just 3.2 innings.
Miguel Rojas is in the Dodgers lineup since being removed in Game 3 of the NLDS. Rojas was then left off the NL Championship Series roster in order to recover from his sports hernia injury that will require offseason surgery.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
RF: Mookie Betts
LF: Teoscar Hernández
1B: Freddie Freeman
CF: Tommy Edman
2B: Kiké Hernández
3B: Max Muncy
C: Will Smith
SS: Miguel Rojas
Yankees lineup
2B: Gleyber Torres
RF: Juan Soto
CF: Aaron Judge
DH: Giancarlo Stanton
3B: Jazz Chisholm Jr.
1B: Anthony Rizzo
SS: Anthony Volpe
C: Austin Wells
LF: Alex Verdugo
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
