Takeaways from World Series Game 2: Dodgers win; Ohtani leaves

Two games into the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are just two wins away from a title.

After defeating the New York Yankees in an incredible World Series opener on Friday night, the Dodgers picked up where they left off with a 4-2 win in Game 2, but now await the status of superstar Shohei Ohtani, after the latter left due to an apparent shoulder injury.

How did LA double its lead in the Fall Classics? We’ve covered everything from live updates and analysis during games to insights after the final pitch and next steps for each team.

Jump to: Takeaways | Live updates

Takeaways

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, New York Yankees 2

Los Angeles leads the series 2-0

Dodgers: The Dodgers held off the Yankees to come within two wins of a World Series title, but are now awaiting word on Shohei Ohtani’s status after the superstar exited late in Game 2.

Ohtani had the entire Dodger Stadium on tenterhooks when he left in the seventh inning after apparently suffering a shoulder injury on a stolen base attempt. Ohtani rolled around on the ground and grabbed his left arm before walking toward the clubhouse.

The injury occurred on a night when Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who hadn’t pitched a seventh inning in a game since June 7 — needed just 86 pitches to beat the Yankees over 6⅓ innings, and it looked like he might have he can carry on. To accomplish this, he used a five-pitch mix in which he struck out Aaron Judge twice – once on a slider and once on a split finger. He gave up just one hit, two walks and four strikeouts. His only blemish was a home run off Juan Soto in the third inning.

Yamamoto is looking stronger this postseason after returning from an arm injury in September. It helped that his offense immediately gave him the lead back after the Soto home run, as first baseman Freddie Freeman received several standing ovations – both before the home run in the third inning of Game 2 and in response to his game-winner in Game 1.

Teoscar Hernandez also went deep – a two-run throw right off Freeman – as did Tommy Edman in the second inning, giving the Dodgers the second-most home runs (24) in a single postseason in franchise history. The win gives the Dodgers a commanding 2-0 lead with the series moving to New York for Game 3 on Monday. –Jesse Rogers

Yankees: With this version of Aaron Judge, the Yankees will not win the World Series.

The presumptive American League MVP went 0-4 with three strikeouts on Saturday. He is 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the World Series and 6-for-40 (.150) with 19 strikeouts in the postseason. The Yankees have come this far without Judge producing anything close to the production he did during the regular season. The Yankees don’t necessarily need this version of Judge to emerge and win the World Series. But they won’t beat the Dodgers four times in five games unless Judge is significantly better. Giancarlo Stanton hit a huge home run in Game 1. Juan Soto scored the Yankees’ first two hits in Game 2, including a home run. Judge, the third member of the Yankees’ slugging trio, will have to contribute in New York. –Jorge Castillo

The big question for game 3: As the Dodgers celebrated winning the first two games of the World Series, they had one frightening question in the back of their minds: Will they have Ohtani for the rest of the series? Ohtani, who was caught stealing in the seventh inning, was helped off the field by the training staff. A microphone on the field captured him saying his left shoulder was injured. The severity remains unclear.

Ohtani, the future National League MVP, went 0-for-3 with a walk Saturday night. He is 1 of 8 in the series. And even though the Dodgers are deep enough to replace him with Mookie Betts or Tommy Edman at the top of the lineup and have any number of at-bats at bat, Ohtani is their best player and losing him would be a huge blow the pit of the stomach. If Ohtani’s shoulder is separated or dislocated, that puts his ability to return this season into question. If the injury turns out to be less serious, there’s a real chance he could come back. Regardless, the excitement of taking a 2-0 series lead was tempered by the specter of losing Ohtani for an extended period of time. –Jeff Passan

Live updates