Yoshinobu Yamamoto cruised as the Dodgers hit three home runs, yet the team is left to hold its breath after left the game with a shoulder injury following an attempted stolen base.
After the dramatics of the first game of the World Series, Saturday’s contest was far more straightforward—that is, until the top of the ninth inning (more on that in a bit). Los Angeles Dodgers hitters jumped on New York Yankees starter Carlos Rodón. The lefty gave up three home runs—including back-to-back jacks to Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman—and he was chased out of the game in the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto had one of his best outings of the year, and the final score was Los Angeles 4, New York 2. The win puts the Dodgers up 2–0 in the series.
The Yankees did not go out without a fight, though. After Giancarlo Stanton drove in Juan Soto with an RBI single that struck the third base bag, the next two hitters reached to load the bases with one out. Dodgers closer Blake Treinen struck out Anthony Volpe, then Alex Vesia came in and retired Jose Trevino on one pitch to escape the jam and secure the win.
Carlos Rodón depends on his fastball—and comes up short
Rodón tweaked his pitch mix this year to begin relying on his fastball less. After letting the heater make up roughly 60% of his pitches in each of the last three seasons, Rodón switched to using it less than half of the time in 2024, making up the difference by using his slider and making his changeup into a legitimate offering. But he went back to relying on the heater during Game 2. The Dodgers can be deadly against secondary stuff: They had the highest slugging percentage in baseball both on breaking balls and the highest on offspeed pitches. They’re exceptionally patient—they drew more walks this year than any team other than the Yankees—and will lay off anything outside of the zone they do not especially like. So against this lineup in the World Series, Rodón went back to relying on his fastball, which made up 60% of his pitches on Saturday. It was the highest proportion of fastballs that he’d thrown in a game since April.
But the Dodgers’ joy was tempered. In the bottom of the seventh, Shohei Ohtani drew a walk to get on base and attempted to steal second. He was thrown out—and was then slow to get up, finally leaving with a trainer, moving his left arm gingerly. He was seen leaving the dugout between innings; Ohtani spot in the lineup did not come up again. The broadcast reported that it was a shoulder injury but did not say anything regarding the severity. It leaves a tense situation for the Dodgers: There is no player on either of these rosters whose star power is so bright or whose ability to change a game is so profound. If Ohtani is indeed injured, the rest of this series might look meaningfully different, and that attempted steal may ultimately turn out to be the most important play of this game.