The Los Angeles Dodgers left Dodger Stadium with a 2-0 series lead over the New York Yankees, enjoying a stunning start to the World Series.
But it is a lead which has come at a cost as superstar Shohei Ohtani sustained a left shoulder injury as he attempted to steal second base in the bottom of the second inning in Game 2.
Now, as the Dodgers prepare to travel to Yankee Stadium for at least the next two games, the team will anxiously await news about Ohtani, whose injury silenced the crowd and changed the atmosphere of the game.
Ohtani sustained a left shoulder subluxation, or partial dislocation, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters afterward.
“We’re going to get some tests at some point tonight, tomorrow, and then we’ll know more in the next couple days,” Roberts said. “But the strength was great. The range of motion, good. So we’re encouraged.”
When asked about how the Dodgers will handle Ohtani potentially missing games, Roberts quickly responded that he is “not there yet.”
“I’m expecting him to be there. I’m expecting him to be in the lineup,” Roberts said.
Even with Ohtani’s injury, the Dodgers are now firmly in the driving seat to take the World Series after their last-gasp, historic Game 1 win and tense Game 2 win too. They are just two wins away from their second World Series title in five years, and their first in a full, non-Covid affected season since 1988.
“You’re not trying to lose in front of your home crowd,” said Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who became the first player in more than a decade to homer in the first two games of a World Series, per MLB.com. “You want to get those wins early, and you’re going into a tough place to play.”
In previous best-of-seven postseason series, teams who have taken a 2-0 lead have gone on to win 77 of 92 times (84%) while under the current 2-3-2 format teams who have won Games 1 and 2 at home have gone on to take the series 45 of 56 times (80%).
“No one said it’s going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters after Game 2. “It’s a long series, and we need to make it a long series now. We won’t flinch. We’ve just got to keep at it.”
But both games have turned on fine margins – one extraordinary hit from Freeman powered the Dodgers to a Game 1 win and the Yankees stranded the bases loaded in Game 2 – so New York are remaining upbeat, though clear-eyed, about their chances of snatching this series.
“This series could easily be 2-0 us,” Stanton told reporters. “That’s what happens when you’re an extremely good ballclub on the other side. It could go any way.”
Pressure often disperses itself unevenly across a team and in the Yankees’ case, that pressure is falling on the shoulders of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is struggling to replicate his extraordinary performances in the regular season.
“I’ve definitely got to step up, and I’ve got to do my job,” Judge told reporters after Game 2. “Guys around me are doing their jobs, getting on base, and I’m failing at backing them up. We’ve got to turn it around in Game 3.”
Meanwhile, Clarke Schmidt will make his third career postseason and first World Series start pitching for the Yankees. Walker Buehler will start on the mound for the Dodgers, seeking to channel teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s performance in Game 2 as he allowed just one hit across 6 1/3 innings.
How to watch and full schedule
Every one of the best-of-seven series games will be broadcast on Fox in the US, with each contest starting at 8:08 p.m. ET.
The schedule is as follows:
Game 3: Monday, October 28 – Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees from Yankee Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 4: Tuesday, October 29 – Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees from Yankee Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 5*: Wednesday, October 30 – Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees from Yankee Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 6*: Friday, November 1 – New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers from Dodger Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 7*: Saturday, November 2 – New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers from Dodger Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET
*if necessary