Fifteen years after little Anthony Volpe watched the Yankees celebrate with the World Series trophy, he stepped up to save their season and keep alive dreams of a surprising title.
New York was close to being swept in the World Series when Freddie Freeman hit another home run in the first inning.
Volpe, a New York native whose family has loved the Yankees for generations, hit a knee-high slider and may have changed the course of the Series. His grand slam in the third inning helped the Yankees win 11-4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, forcing a Game 5.
“The place was shaking. I felt the ground literally shaking,” said Yankees catcher Austin Wells.
Wells and Gleyber Torres also hit home runs for the Yankees, who opened up the game with a five-run eighth inning.
New York, which had only scored seven runs in the first three games, regained some of its confidence. Wells wore a “Fully Operational Death Star” Yankees T-shirt after the game, referencing a comment made by general manager Brian Cashman in 2018.
Fans in the packed crowd of 49,354 chanted Volpe’s name during the ninth inning.
“It’s like you finally got to see the top blow off Yankee Stadium in a World Series game,” said Aaron Boone after getting his first World Series win as the Yankees’ manager. “When Anthony hits that ball, it was like fun to see Yankee Stadium erupt.”
Wells noted that the tough situation after Monday’s loss had lifted the pressure. “Why not go out tomorrow and have fun?” he said, describing the mood.
Freeman hit a home run in his sixth straight Series game when he sent a slider from rookie Luis Gil into the right-field short porch after Mookie Betts doubled with one out. He became the first player to homer in the first four games of a World Series, and his six-game home run streak is one more than Houston’s George Springer had in 2017 and 2019.
“I’ll look back on it after hopefully we win and get this thing done tomorrow,” Freeman said. “Pretty cool. Obviously, hopefully I can keep it going tomorrow.”
Game 5 is Wednesday night, featuring Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty in a rematch of Game 1.
Trying to be the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York took the lead 5-2 with Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s hit against Daniel Hudson.
“All it takes is just one swing,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. Volpe hit Hudson’s first pitch into the left-field stands. “I pretty much blacked out as soon as I saw it go over the fence,” Volpe said.
A Gold Glove shortstop in his second big league season, the 23-year-old Volpe also doubled and became the first player in Series history to have a grand slam and two stolen bases in one game. He was 8 when the Yankees last won the Series.
Volpe scored New York’s first run after walking when he was behind 0-2 in the second inning. He made a mistake on the bases when he went back to second to tag up and missed scoring on Wells’ double off the center-field wall, hitting his own leg in frustration. Verdugo then followed with an RBI grounder.
“They’re going to fight,” Betts said. “If you made it this far, you have a resilient team that’s going to fight the whole time.”
Los Angeles narrowed the score to 6-4 in the fifth inning with two runs, which included Will Smith’s homer off Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite having a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat the throw to avoid an inning-ending double play. This play was initially called an out but was changed after a video review.
Wells hit a homer into the second deck in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth after an 11-pitch at-bat, just before Torres hit a three-run homer off Brent Honeywell.
Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver, and Tim Mayza combined for five innings of relief, allowing only one hit and striking out seven, helping the Yankees avoid their first Series sweep loss since 1976.
“As far as outcomes, to have six guys in your ’pen that are feeling good, rested, I feel good about that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Twenty-one of the last 24 teams that took a 3-0 Series lead ended up getting swept, with the exceptions being the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees against the New York Giants, and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles against the Cincinnati Reds. All three of those Series ended in five games.
The 2004 Boston Red Sox, inspired by a stolen base by Roberts, are the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in any round, defeating the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.
Judge got his first run of the Series with an RBI single in the eighth inning and is now 2 for 15 in the four games. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is also 2 for 15 after going 1 for 4 with a single, which was his first hit since partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2.
New York ended a seven-game Series losing streak against the Dodgers that dated back to 1981. The Yankees earned their first seven RBIs from the bottom three hitters in their lineup: Volpe, Wells, and Verdugo, who had come into the Series with just 4 for 32 and three RBIs.
After the game, Volpe was interviewed by former Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who is now a Fox broadcaster.
“It’s my dream, but it was all my friends’ dreams, all my cousins’ dreams, probably my sister’s dream, too. But winning the World Series was first and foremost, by far. Nothing else compares. So still got a lot of work to do,” Volpe said.
Former Boston star David Ortiz, who is also a Fox commentator, gave Volpe a shirt. “I’ve got it in my locker,” Volpe said. “I can’t wear it. It’s got him and Red Sox stuff on it.”
