The first rematch between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers since the 2024 World Series continued to look just like last October on Saturday.
The Dodgers have once again clinched a series win against the Yankees, this time behind a 18-2 blowout, finishing the game with a season-high 21 hits and falling just shy of the 19 runs they scored against the Athletics on May 15.
The Dodgers hit five home runs in the game, with two of them coming off the bat of Max Muncy, which included the 200th long ball of his career. It was Muncy’s 16th career multi-homer games and his first this season.
However, it was small ball that got the Dodgers going early as singles by Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith drove in their first run of the game. Muncy followed that with an RBI base hit of his own, and the Dodgers went on to take a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
They continued to jump on Yankees starter Will Warren in the second, which was when Muncy hit his first three-run homer of the game. Hyeseong Kim also hit a home run in the inning to put the Dodgers up 10-0.
L.A. coasted from there and Muncy’s second three-run home run broke it open even further at 14-1 in the fifth inning. Andy Pages added a solo shot off Luke Weaver in the seventh inning and Dalton Rushing blasted his first career homer in the eighth inning against Pablo Reyes.
By then that was more than enough for Landon Knack and the Dodgers bullpen. Knack held the Yankees to just one run — an Aaron Judge homer — as he got through six innings. It was a second consecutive start for Knack of six innings pitched and only one earned run allowed.
Anthony Banda and Chris Stratton pitched following Knaack. Banda tossed a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts while Stratton made his Dodgers’ debut, allowing a solo homer to Aaron Judge, who has now blasted three in the first two games of the series.
Kiké Hernández closed out the game in the ninth, making his second pitching appearance this year, with a scoreless frame.
Dodgers have chance to sweep Yankees
The Dodgers conclude their series against New York on Sunday with a chance to sweep in another nationally televised game, this time on ESPN with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. PT.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the scheduled starter, and he’ll face off against his former teammate, Ryan Yarbrough. Yamamoto holds a stellar 1.97 ERA this season while Yarbrough has a solid 3.06.
Yarbrough, who was a member of the 2024 Dodgers, also received his World Series ring this weekend.
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