The baseball season continues! Thanks to a flagging Dodgers bullpen game, a fiery Bronx crowd and a night Anthony Volpe will remember for the rest of his life, the Yankees kept their season alive with an 11-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday.
The Yankees are still down 3-1, so there’s a lot of work left to be done. But with one more win on Wednesday night, this series will head back to Chavez Ravine … and you’ll see some Angelenos start to sweat a little.
Here are the five biggest storylines heading into Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.
1) Can Cole come through again?
Let’s face it. The Yankees should have won Game 1. This series should be tied! In that first game, Cole did exactly what the Yankees hoped he would do, back when they committed $324 million to him as a free agent before the 2020 season.
He handed the bullpen the game with a lead and looked like the ace he has been most of his career. Now they simply need him to go out and do it again to keep their season alive.
The Yankees used their top bullpen arms on Tuesday to hold on to their lead, and while they’ll be available if needed on Wednesday – this is an elimination game – it’s asking a lot to expect them to shut down the Dodgers again. This is Cole’s game as long as he can take it. It’s on his shoulders. This is why he’s here.
2) Is Freddie Freeman going to homer again?
If the Dodgers do end up winning this series — as is still pretty likely, considering they’re up 3-1 — Freeman is obviously going to be the MVP.
His two-run shot in the first inning of Game 4 marked his sixth consecutive World Series game with a home run (going back to 2021 with Atlanta), which is of course the all-time record.
Let us not forget that one of the primary storylines heading into this series concerned whether Freeman would even be available to play, and if so, if his sprained ankle would continue to hinder him.
Instead, he’s blasting homers every night and even got down the line quickly to beat out a potential ground-ball double play to bring home another run in Game 4.
