Forget what you heard: The New York Yankees are not dead. Not yet, anyway.
With the World Series on the line, and the Los Angeles Dodgers heading for the sweep, home runs from Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres put their champagne on ice, at least for another 24 hours.
In front of a raucous 49,354-strong crowd in the Bronx, the Yankees are on the board with a 11-4 Game 4 win, and the most unlikely of comebacks is alive. From 3-0 down, they couldn’t… could they?
For so long 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 the Yankees’ night, and it all began with one almighty swing of Volpe’s bat.
It was the bottom of the second inning, the entirety of Yankee Stadium on its feet. Two outs, the bases loaded, and the World Series resting on the shoulders of one young man.
Anthony Volpe’s grand slam put the Yankees on course for a win in Game 4 of the World Series
New York avoided a sweep with a dramatic come-from-behind victory at Yankee Stadium
Had he struck out, it would have been typical of this struggling World Series Yankees roster, who until tonight had promised so much and delivered so little.
Instead, though, the 23-year-old shortstop produced the biggest moment of his fledgling career, swinging hard and true for a first-pitch Grand Slam home run into left center field.
From 2-1 down, the Yankees went 5-2 up, and it sent them on their way to an enthralling victory in their big do-or-die night in New York. The ignominy of the sweep has been avoided, and allowed the Bronx Bombers to dream of what might be.
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 in pinstripes lifted up a homemade sign. White background, black and red writing, the message simple: ‘Freddie, please stop.’
Austin Wells was among the Yankees stars to homer during Tuesday’s 11-4 win vs. Los Angeles
Aaron Judge celebrates with Volpe after his dramatic grand slam turned Game 4 on its head
Who knows whether LA superstar Freeman saw it, but he certainly had no intention of adhering.
All it took was 15 pitches – exactly the same as last night – for Freeman to swing hard, sending a two-run home run into – yes, you guessed it – exactly the same spot as last night.
In doing so, he became the first man in history to hit home runs in six straight World Series games, and the Yankees quite simply had no way of stopping him. No matter the pitcher, no matter the plan, Freeman went deep.
At that point, it looked as though it was all falling apart for the Yankees. 3-0 down in the best-of-seven series, 2-0 down in the do-or-die game. Aaron Boone stood on the edge of the dugout in his familiar pose perhaps for the final time, as he faced the prospect of being fired after seven seasons as manager.
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 pleads with Dodgers star Freddie Freeman not to inflict more pain
But Freeman scored yet another home run to give the Dodgers an early lead on Tuesday
Gleyber Torres flew one foul, and with Betts backpedaling to make the catch against the wall, he jumped and found himself in a tussle with two fans.
Betts had the ball in his glove, but one of the fans gritted his teeth and tried to wrestle it out. The Dodgers star was baffled, and the Yankees fans were booted out of the stadium.
From nowhere, though, the Yankees then found something from deep in their reserves. After being battered and bruised for three-and-a-bit games, Volpe decided enough was enough – and his teammates then stepped up to follow.
In the second, Anthony Rizzo and Volpe combined for a brilliant double play, and in the fourth Rizzo dived against the netting in foul territory to make a near-impossible catch off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez.
A Yankees supporter attempted to rip the ball from Mookie Betts in dramatic scenes
The tide threatened to turn once again in the fifth inning, though, when Luis Gil was hit for his second home run of the night. The young pitcher had managed to steady himself after Freeman’s early heroics, but he was caught out by Will Smith on an 0-2 pitch.
The 97mph fastball was high of the strike-zone, and Smith took advantage, planting it into the second row of the seats, just over Soto’s head like his teammate four innings earlier.
From there, the Yanks were in a bullpen face-off with their rivals – both teams digging deep into their reserves with a series of relief pitchers to get them through the game.
The Dodgers were already banged up and relying on their depth to get them through, but on Wednesday night it was New York’s options that came out on top.
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 ever-impressive Luke Weaver forced seven Ks in three innings to keep the Yankees ticking over.
On the other side of the baseball, there was still plenty of work to come from the hitters too.
In the bottom of the sixth, catcher Austin Wells – preferred once again to Jose Trevino – justified his selection by hitting a brilliant home run into the second deck to add one more.
In the eighth, Volpe scored again to make it 7-4, and then Yankee Stadium rose to its feet again when Gleyber Torres put the icing on the sweetest of cakes.
With Verdugo on first and Wells on third, the Yankees lead-off hitter sent a flyball deep to right-center field. 10-4, and this game was – almost – done.
Seconds later, Soto doubled, and then Aaron Judge did the same to bring him home.
It is merely the first step on the Yankees’ long road to redemption in this World Series, but a dominant display in the Bronx shows what this team can be capable of when they’re at their best.
It will need to happen three more times to change the fate of their season, but so long as they keep swinging for the fences, they will believe they’ve got a chance.
