Dodgers World Series notes after first 2 games in LA

The Dodgers are now in New York, with Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. But let’s look back a bit to see how the Dodgers got to their 2-0 series advantage in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers offense is as big a reason as any that they are two wins away from a championship, hitting .248/.340/.451 with an MLB-best 121 wRC+, 24 home runs, and 6.15 runs per game this postseason.

Power show

They had five extra-base hits in each of the first two games against the Yankees, just the second time the Dodgers have two games with at least five extra-base hits in the same World Series. The other time was by Brooklyn in Games 1 and 4 in 1953, also against the Yankees.

This year’s Dodgers are just the eighth team with consecutive games in the same World Series with five or more extra-base hits, and the first since Houston in Games 2-3 in 2017. The only team with three straight Fall Classic games with five or more extra-base hits were the Oakland A’s, who did the deed in the final three games of their sweep in 1989.

Going streaking

Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history to win Game 1, and tripled earlier in the game.

Freeman also homered in Game 2, making him just the seventh Dodger to homer in consecutive World Series games, and the first since Justin Turner in the first two games in 2020. Duke Snider is the only one of the group to do so twice, in both the 1952 and 1955 World Series.

The home runs in this series by Freeman were against Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón, marking the first time Freeman hit two home runs off left-handed pitchers in such a short time since he homered twice off David Peterson of the Mets on April 17, 2023.

Don’t forget the arms

Even with the power display so far in this series, both contests have been incredibly close, with Game 1 needing 10 innings to decide, and Game 2 a two-run squeaker in which the Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning.

The Dodgers kept both games close thanks in large part to very good starting pitching, with Jack Flaherty allowing just two runs in his 5⅓ innings in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto even stingier with only a Juan Soto solo home run in his 6⅓ innings in Game 2.

That marked the first time the Dodgers got consecutive postseason starts into at least the sixth inning since way back in Games 1-2 of the 2019 NLDS. There were 51 Dodgers postseason games in between those two mini-streaks.

Supporting casts

There is a ton of attention paid to the heart of both lineups, and rightfully so. While Aaron Judge has struggled so far with six strikeouts and just one single in two games, Soto and Giancarlo Stanton have each homered. Those three Yankees are a combined 6-for-25 with two home runs and two walks so far.

Freeman has both home runs by the Dodgers big three, plus a triple. Shohei Ohtani has a double, but that’s his only hit through two games. Those two plus Mookie Betts are a combined 6-for-24 with two home runs, a triple, double, and two walks.

The big difference has been from everyone else. The Dodgers got home runs from Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman in Game 2. The other guys in LA’s lineup through two games are hitting .225/.256/.500 with six extra-base hits, four RBI, and five runs scored.

Yankees outside of the big three are hitting just .174/.269/.196 with one extra-base hit (a Gleyber Torres double), one run scored (by Jazz Chisholm Jr., after stealing two bases off Blake Treinen), and one RBI (by Anthony Volpe, on a groundout) through two games.