How the Yankees can come back to stun the Dodgers and make MLB World Series history News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

Before Game 4 of the World Series, the New York Yankees looked deader than disco.

Historically, the series ended in Game 3.

Of the 24 previous World Series games in which a team took a 3-0 lead, 21 ended in sweeps and the other three ended in Game 5.

Forget about actually completing the comeback. No one had actually threatened to go through with it.

And nothing about the Yankees’ mood in the last two games suggested they would be one of the teams to force a game five.

Although every game came to the point, nothing could go right as they continued to suffer from Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1.

The Dodgers converted ducks into runs; The Yankees had outs at the plate even though they weren’t exactly busy hitting the ball.

Freeman continued to rake in, driving in as many runs in the series (seven) as the Yankees had scored as a team in three games.

This trend continued in earnest at the start of the fourth game. For the second straight game, Freeman delivered a two-run dinger before the Yankees even saw a pitch. An inning later, a baserunning error led to New York leaving a run on the board.

Lather, rinse, repeat…sweep?

In the blink of an eye – quick as a fox – something changed.

In a moment that felt *somehow* similar to former Red Sox speedster, current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stealing the base in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, Anthony Volpe broke in with a two-out grand- Slam the mound in the third inning and turn over turned the Dodgers’ bullpen game into a highly watched batting practice en route to an 11-4 victory.

Just a game that doesn’t change the grand plan?

Or the first big step on an unlikely journey towards something historic?

Bring the show back to LA

The next step begins with Gerrit Cole, both literally and figuratively.

New York had no answer for Los Angeles’ $325 million ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, but the Yankees could get the series back in series if their $324 million ace does his thing in Game 5 .

Even though they ultimately squandered his effort, Cole was on the right track in Game 1, allowing just one run in six innings of work. Maybe it wasn’t vintage Gerrit Cole only had four strikeouts, but he battled and fended off a crowded LA lineup a lot better than any other Yankees starter has done so far.

Cole has now made four starts this postseason with a 2.82 ERA after finishing the regular season with a 2.25 ERA in his last 10 games.

Another gem in Game 5 wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Maybe they’ll let him empty the tank on this one, too, after he (and Derek Jeter) became frustrated with Aaron Boone’s decision to lift him after just 88 pitches.

The offensive has risen from the dead

And now the Yankees hitters are awake, which is a scary proposition for the Dodgers.

Judge isn’t quite there yet, but he’s at least starting to make a move, getting on base three times via a hit-by-pitch, a walk and the aforementioned RBI single.

He didn’t strike out in Game 4 after missing 14 of his previous 25 ABs.

However, what they accomplished at the back of the lineup on Tuesday night was tremendous. Volpe and Wells were a combined 2-for-22 with 11 strikeouts in the first three games before exploding with four extra-base hits.

You can reproduce that too. The July/August version of Wells essentially got away with AL Rookie of the Year voting. Volpe posted a .382 OPS with an OPS of 1.041 in his first 15 games this season before posting marks of .373 and 1.078, respectively, in his first 14 games after the All-Star break.

The Yankees’ story in 2024 usually involves tertiary characters, but if one of them gets into trouble, you should be on your guard.

Even if the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters don’t keep raking, the mere idea that it can happen will perhaps lift some of the weight of the world off Judge’s shoulders, leading to the kind of breakthrough in the last three games and an AB the streak that Freeman had in the first three games and one AB.

God knows things can move quickly with the surefire 2024 MVP judge, and Roberts’ decision to let Brent Honeywell Jr. pitch in front of him in the eighth inning might have been a big mistake.

Remember the 16-game home run-free streak toward the end of the regular season that was followed by seven home runs in 35 at-bats?

Or the taters he crushed in back-to-back games against the Guardians a few weeks ago?

Despite all the criticism leveled against the home run king so far in October, he could emerge as World Series MVP with a strong final chapter in a historic comeback.

Dodgers are still vulnerable

And, friends, let’s not forget our low confidence in the Dodgers’ starting lineup heading into this World Series. Yamamoto’s postseason ERA was over 5.00. Walker Buehler sat at 6:00. Jack Flaherty was over 7.00.

All of those Dodgers-in-6 or Dodgers-in-7 picks were based on the assumption that their high-octane offense would simply outperform the Yankees.

Instead, these Dodgers hitters — aside from Freeman, of course — were kind of… bad?

Shohei Ohtani is clearly not doing well with his left shoulder injury. Max Muncy couldn’t buy a hit in the World Series after that incredible run on base in the NLCS. And although they have scored at least four runs in every game of this series, the Dodgers have yet to score five runs in the regular season and have scored one run in the last three games against the Yankees’ bullpen.

If this trend continues, will this amount of points be enough to bury the Yankees?

Or if it continues like this, with Flaherty in turmoil in Game 5 and the Yanks chasing Yamamoto at the start of Game 6, will that bury it? Dodgers?

Listen, it would be appropriate for Flaherty to storm into Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night and cram seven scoreless innings down their throats after they balked at trading for him because of concerns about his medical records.

However, if his Game 5 of the World Series looks anything like his Game 5 of the NLCS (3 IP, 8 ER) and the Yankees become the first team in World Series history to recover from a 3-0 deficit in a game 6 forces, Suddenly everything becomes possible in LA.

It’s still pretty unlikely to happen. DraftKings has the Yankees at +600 to win the series even after Game 4.

Before this series even began, however, I pointed out to you that strange things always happen at the Fall Classics during presidential election years.

Even if they don’t end up winning the game, New York’s team rallying from a 3-0 deficit to force what could be the greatest Game 7 of all time would certainly qualify.

Surely there would be a comeback one day worthy of its own documentary…