Yamamoto defeats the Yankees, Freeman scores again, and the Dodgers win 4-2 and lead 2-0 in the World Series

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings, Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight game and the Los Angeles Dodgers hit three early long balls off Carlos Rodón to beat the New York Yankees on Saturday 4:2 leading 2:0 in the World Cup.

Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández also supported the Dodgers as they watched the superstars perform Shohei Ohtani leaves the field with a partially dislocated left shoulder at the end of the seventh inning.

After the Yankees tied the game to 4-2 on Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single in the ninth against Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia breathed a sigh of relief as the bases were loaded and retired pinch hitter Jose Trevino singled to make the save.

Yamamoto gave up a Juan Soto homer in the third inning and then retired his final 11 batters.

“I was really looking forward to this match,” he said through a translator, “and I’m glad we had a great finish.”

Soto also hit a single off the wall in the ninth and scored on Stanton’s one-out single at third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Anthony Rizzo was hit by the ball, loading the bases. Treinen then struck out Anthony Volpe before Vesia struck out four times.

Ohtani was injured on a first-leg slide when he was caught stealing second base and finishing seventh.

“He had a slight subluxation of his left shoulder. We’ll do some testing tonight or tomorrow and we’ll know more in the next few days,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The strength was great. Range of motion is good, so we’re excited. But of course I can’t speculate because (he) hasn’t gotten the scans yet. So when we have the scans we will know more. But again, considering the strength and range of motion, it’s definitely an advantage.

The third game will be on Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Forty-five of the 56 teams that went 2-0 in the World Series won the title.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a long series and we have to make it a long series now. We will not go back.”

New York hitter Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is hitting .150 with six RBI and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

Soto’s tying homer on an inside fastball was the only one Yamamoto allowed this year in two starts and 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees. The rookie right-hander walked out to a huge ovation and gave the fans the slightest tip of his hat when he took the field.

“I think from the beginning, from the first round, everything was going well for me,” he said. “Today went pretty well.”

Yamamoto joined the Dodgers last December on a 12-year contract worth $325 million, a record for a pitcher, and working with Ohtani has generated record interest in Major League Baseball in Japan.

Yamamoto was sidelined from June 15 to September 10 due to a rotator cuff strain, which was his best start since the injury.

“Yamamoto, great job tonight and obviously we took the early lead and held on,” Freeman said.

In his longest outing since starting in the Bronx, Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a lineup that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

He had his best regular-season game at Yankee Stadium in June, when he allowed three hits over seven straight innings. In this three-game series, Hernández recorded three homers and nine RBIs.

A night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history, turning a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning into a 6-3 victory, Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a solo shot in the second inning.

After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández went 3-of-27 with a tackle to the right-center field.

Freeman, who before Friday had not gone deep since September 16, was greeted with loud cheers before each plate appearance. He completed the count and headed back to right center.

Playing with a sprained right ankle, Freeman has appeared in four straight games, dating back to Atlanta’s final two games of 2021 against Houston. That was one shy of the record set by Astros outfielder George Springer.

“Those six days off between the NLCS and the World Series were extremely important to me,” Freeman said. “I managed to calm down my ankle. So hopefully I got a lot of swelling on the flight today, so hopefully tomorrow we can shake it off and get a good place for the third game.

All three Dodgers homers scored fastballs from Rodón, who allowed 31 long balls during the regular season, second-most in the major leagues. Los Angeles scored twice in the series for the second time after Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager combined with Yankees lefty Ron Guidry for a 2-1 victory in Game 5 in 1981.

Rodón gave up four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead in the series for the first time since 1988, when Kirk Gibson scored the first goal against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley and Orel Hershiser had three goals. The Yankees are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they rebounded, won three straight at home and lost Games 6 and 7 in Arizona.

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt and Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler will start on Monday. Schmidt has a 3.86 ERA in two postseason starts, with a no-decision in Game 3 against Kansas City and Cleveland. Buehler also started two third games, allowing six runs over five innings in a 6-5 loss to San Diego and four runs in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets.

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