Forget what you heard: the New York Yankees aren’t dead. At least not yet.
With the World Series on the line and the Los Angeles Dodgers headed for a sweep, home runs by Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres froze the champagne, at least for another 24 hours.
In front of a raucous crowd of 49,354 in the Bronx, the Yankees are on the board with an 11-4 victory in Game 4, and the most improbable comeback is alive. From 3-0 down, they couldn’t… or could they?
For a long time in this one-sided series, it had been the Freddie Freeman Show. In many ways it still is – and history has been written by the Dodgers star – but Tuesday night was Yankees night, and it all started with a powerful swing of Volpe’s bat.
It was the end of the second inning, the entire Yankee Stadium was on its feet. Two outs, the bases loaded and the World Series resting on the shoulders of a young man.
Anthony Volpe’s grand slam put the Yankees on their way to victory in Game 4 of the World Series
New York avoided a sweep with a dramatic comeback at Yankee Stadium
Had he struck out, it would have been typical of this struggling World Series Yankees roster, which until tonight had promised so much and delivered so little.
Instead, though, the 23-year-old shortstop produced the biggest moment of his budding career, swinging hard and true for a grand slam home run on the first pitch to left-center field.
From 2-1 down, the Yankees went up 5-2, and that put them on their way to an exciting victory on their big do-or-die night in New York. It avoided the ignominy of the sweep and allowed the Bronx Bombers to dream of what could happen.
Until Volpe stepped up to the plate for his big moment in Game 4, the only show in town was Freeman, who came into this with five home runs in five straight World Series games.
Directly behind the Dodgers dugout before the game, a Yankees fan dressed in pinstripes held up a homemade sign. White background, black and red writing, the simple message: ‘Freddie, please stop.’
Austin Wells was among the Yankees stars who homered during Tuesday’s 11-4 victory against Los Angeles.
Aaron Judge celebrates with Volpe after his dramatic grand slam turns Game 4 around
Who knows if Los Angeles superstar Freeman saw it, but he certainly had no intention of joining.
All it took was 15 pitches – the exact same ones as last night – for Freeman to swing hard, sending a two-run home run to – yes, you guessed it – the exact same spot as last night.
In doing so, he became the first man in history to hit home runs in six consecutive World Series games, and the Yankees simply had no way to stop him. No matter the pitcher, no matter the plan, Freeman went deep.
At that point, it seemed like everything was falling apart for the Yankees. Down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, down 2-0 in the do-or-die game. Aaron Boone stood on the edge of the dugout in his familiar pose for perhaps the last time as he faced the prospect of being fired after seven seasons as coach.
Even in the stands things started to get ugly, when two Yankees fans got involved in a ridiculous – and, frankly, dangerous – situation with Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first inning.
A Yankees supporter begs Dodgers star Freddie Freeman not to inflict any more pain on him.
But Freeman hit another home run to give the Dodgers an early lead on Tuesday.
Gleyber Torres fouled out and, with Betts backing up to trap him against the wall, he jumped and found himself in a fight with two fans.
Betts had the ball in his glove, but one of the fans gritted his teeth and tried to get it out of him. The Dodgers star was left bewildered and Yankees fans were chased out of the stadium.
However, out of nowhere, the Yankees found something deep in their reserves. After being battered and bruised for three-odd games, Volpe decided enough was enough, and his teammates stepped up to follow him.
In the second, Anthony Rizzo and Volpe combined for a brilliant double play, and in the fourth Rizzo dove into the net in foul territory to catch an almost impossible hit by Teoscar Hernández.
A Yankees fan tried to snatch the ball from Mookie Betts in dramatic scenes
However, the tide threatened to turn once again in the fifth inning, when Luis Gil received his second home run of the night. The young pitcher had managed to stabilize himself after Freeman’s early heroics, but Will Smith surprised him on an 0-2 pitch.
The 97 mph fastball was well above the strike zone, and Smith took advantage, planting it in the second row of seats, just above Soto’s head like his teammate four innings earlier.
From there, the Yankees faced off in the bullpen with their rivals: both teams deepened their reserves with a series of relief pitchers to help them get through the game.
The Dodgers were already banged up and were relying on their depth to get by, but on Wednesday night it was New York’s options that prevailed.
The visitors struck out just once with Gil on the mound through the first five innings, but then Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr and the always impressive Luke Weaver forced seven K’s in three innings to keep the Yankees going.
On the other side of the baseball, there was still a lot of work to be done by the hitters.
In the bottom of the sixth, catcher Austin Wells – once again preferred to José Treviño – justified his selection by hitting a brilliant home run to the second deck to add one more.
In the eighth, Volpe scored again to make the score 7-4, and then Yankee Stadium was back on its feet when Gleyber Torres put the icing on the sweetest of cakes.
With Verdugo on first and Wells on third, the Yankees’ leadoff hitter sent a fly ball deep to right center field. 10-4, and this game was – almost – over.
Seconds later, Soto doubled and then Aaron Judge did the same to bring it home.
It’s simply the first step in the Yankees’ long road to redemption in this World Series, but a dominant showing in the Bronx shows what this team can be capable of when it’s at its best.
It will have to happen three more times to change the fate of their season, but as long as they keep fighting, they will believe they have a chance.