Dodgers defeat Yankees in Game 3 to move to verge of World Series title

NEW YORK — One more win.

One more win to erase the pain of endless collapses.

One more win to silence the frustration of countless criticisms.

One more win to earn their first full season championship in 36 years, their first title of any sort in four years, and the first chance in forever to ask the most wonderful of questions.

Are you ready for a parade?

NEW YORK — At the start of the fifth inning Monday night, the Yankee Stadium scoreboard implored a quiet crowd in the Bronx.

“EVERYBODY GET LOUD,” it instructed.

“EVERYBODY SCREAM,” it begged.

The subdued 49,368 in attendance hardly reacted.

? Dodgers 4, Yankees 2 — FINAL

Top of the ninth: Tommy Edman grounded out to third base. The Yankees then relieved Tommy Kahnle with Luke Weaver. Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch and Mookie Betts grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Bottom of the ninth: Facing Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech, Anthony Volpe struck out. Kopech walked Anthony Rizzo, who then took second base on a wild pitch. Austin Wells popped out. Alex Verudgo then hit a two-run home run off Kopech to right field to end the Dodgers’ shutout bid with two outs.

Gleyber Torres grounded out to first base to end the game.

The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 heading into Game 4 at 5:08 p.m. PDT on Tuesday.

? Dodgers 4, Yankees 0 — End of the eighth inning

Top of the eighth: Will Smith lined out against Clay Holmes. Reliever Tommy Kahnle then took over for the Yankees, striking out Gavin Lux. Kiké Hernández popped out to Anthony Rizzo at first base.

Bottom of the eighth: Facing Dodgers reliever Ryan Brasier, Juan Soto lined out. Aaron Judge drew a walk, then Brasier struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm.

? Dodgers 4, Yankees 0 — End of the seventh inning

Top of the seventh: Against Yankees reliever Tim Hill, Shohei Ohtani popped out into foul territory near third base before Mookie Betts drew a walk.

Freddie Freeman then fouled a ball off his already sore right ankle. After taking an injury timeout that included a visit from a team trainer and manager Dave Roberts, Freeman reached first when he grounded into a force out at second base.

Facing Yankees reliever Clay Holmes, Teoscar Hernández singled to center field, advancing Freeman to third. Holmes got out of the jam by striking out Max Muncy.

Bottom of the seventh: Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson struck out Anthony Volpe, whose bat flew into the Dodgers’ dugout off his final swing. Anthony Rizzo followed with a single to center field. Hudson struck out pinch-hitter Austin Wells.

Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda then took the mound and walked Anthony Rizzo on four pitches to put runners on first and second. Gleyber Torres was then called out on strikes after a final pitch from Banda that appeared to be well outside the zone. Torres was still shaking his head over home plate umpire Mark Carlson’s call while in the field in the eighth inning.

? Dodgers 4, Yankees 0 — End of the sixth inning

Top of the sixth inning: Facing Yankees reliever Jake Cousins, Will Smith lined out. Gavin Lux then was hit by a pitch before stealing second base.

Lux scored when Kiké Hernández singled to center field, making it 4-0 Dodgers. Lux just beat the throw to home plate, taking a pretty big hit when he collided with Yankees catcher Jose Trevino.

Immediate after Tommy Edman struck out, Trevino threw out Hernández on a stolen-base attempt to end the inning.

Bottom of the sixth: Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol entered the game and got Gleyber Torres to ground out to second base. Graterol then walked Juan Soto. Aaron Judge hit a grounder to the pitcher’s mound, and Graterol threw out Soto at second thanks to a stretching catch by Tommy Edman.

Giancarlo Stanton singled up the middle to end Graterol’s stint in favor of Alex Vesia. He got Jazz Chisholm to hit into a force out at second.

? Dodgers 3, Yankees 0 — End of the fifth inning

Top of the fifth: Freddie Freeman reached base on a fielding error by third baseman Jazz Chisholm. Teoscar Hernández lined out before Max Muncy hit into a 4-3 double play.

Bottom of the fifth: Anthony Rizzo flied out to right field, Jose Trevino grounded out and Alex Verdugo lined out. Buehler has given up just two hits through five innings.

? Dodgers 3, Yankees 0 — End of the fourth inning

Top of the fourth: After Gavin Lux walked, Kiké Hernández singled to right field, advancing Lux to third. Tommy Edman then put down a bunt that pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. quickly fielded and threw to catcher Jose Trevino to get Lux out at home plate.

The Dodgers challenged the call, but it was upheld upon video review even though one angle of the replay convinced Fox broadcasters Joe Davis and John Smoltz that Lux scored. Edman reached first on the fielder’s choice.

Nestor Cortes then took over on the mound for the Yankees and struck out Shohei Ohtani. Mookie Betts lined out to left field to leave runners stranded at second and first.

Dave Roberts told Fox’s Ken Rosenthal at the start of the fourth inning that this is the best he’s seen from Walker Buehler this season. Roberts also mentioned that Ohtani is “not feeling his best” but expressed confidence Ohtani would be OK.

Bottom of the fourth: Aaron Judge flied out to left field before Giancarlo Stanton doubled into the left-field corner for the Yankees’ first hit.

Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts then made a diving grab on a liner hit by Jazz Chisholm to rob the Yankees of a potential run.

Anthony Volpe followed with a single to left, but Teoscar Hernández threw out Stanton at home plate with a perfect throw to catcher Will Smith to keep it 3-0 Dodgers.

? Dodgers 3, Yankees 0 — End of the third inning

Top of the third: Tommy Edman led with a walk. Shohei Ohtani grounded out to second, swinging the bat twice during his at-bat.

Mookie Betts capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a single to shallow right field that was enough to score Edman from second base and make it 3-0 Dodgers. Aggressive baserunning by the speedy Edman made it impossible for the Yankees to even try for a play at the plate.

Freddie Freeman walked before Teoscar Hernández popped out to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. Max Muncy followed with an eight-pitch walk to load the bases and end Clarke Schmidt’s start after 2? innings.

Facing Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr., Will Smith grounded out to the mound as the Yankees escaped the jam.

Bottom of the third: Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler struck out Jose Trevino and Alex Verdugo before walking Gleyber Torres. Juan Soto then grounded out. Buehler hasn’t allowed a hit and has five strikeouts through three innings.

Long encumbered by a mouthful of metal, Zachary was told by his parents Friday that he could leave his fifth-grade class early because he had an orthodontist appointment to get his braces removed. The shaggy-haired 10-year-old figured he’d be out of the chair in time to watch Game 1 of the World Series on TV.

After all, Zachary had worn Dodgers gear to school, drawing from a wardrobe that includes several shirts bearing the name of his favorite player, Freddie Freeman.

? Dodgers 2, Yankees 0 — End of the second inning

Top of the second: Will Smith flied out before Clarke Schmidt struck out Gavin Lux and Kiké Hernández for a 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom of the second: Jazz Chisholm flied out to center field. Walker Buehler struck out Anthony Volpe on a 95-mph fastball before striking out Anthony Rizzo on a curveball.

? Dodgers 2, Yankees 0 — End of the first inning

Top of the first: Facing Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt, Shohei Ohtani drew a four-pitch walk in his first at-bat since sustaining a shoulder subluxation in Game 2. Ohtani, while leading off first, was pulling down on the collar of his jersey in apparent effort to limit the effects of his injury while running.

After Mookie Betts flied out, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run home run to right field to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Freeman has hit home runs in a record-tying five consecutive World Series games, dating back to 2021 (George Springer also achieved the feat in 2017, 2019).

Teoscar Hernández grounded out and Max Muncy struck out to cap the frame.

Bottom of the first: Gleyber Torres drew a walk off Dodgers starter Walker Buehler. Juan Soto lined out to left field.

Receiving a standing ovation accompanied by chants of “MVP!” from the Yankees faithful before his at-bat, Aaron Judge struck out, falling to one for 10 at the plate in the World Series. Giancarlo Stanton hit into a force out at second to end the inning.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani stands in dugout before Game 3 of the World Series.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani appeared to be wearing a type of sling around his left shoulder and arm during player introductions before Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Ohtani will open the game in the lead-off spot for the Dodgers after sustaining a shoulder subluxation in the Dodgers’ Game 2 win.

The Dodgers lost the first two games of a 1981 National League playoff series in Houston, both in walk-off fashion, before storming back to win three straight over the Astros in Los Angeles to win the series, which pitted the first-half and second-half division winners from the strike-interrupted season.

That earned them a spot in the best-of-five NL Championship Series, where the Dodgers erased a two-games-to-one deficit by winning twice in frigid Montreal, including a 2-1 Game 5 thriller in which Rick Monday hit a game-winning two-out homer in the ninth inning of what Expos fans still refer to as “Blue Monday.”

The playoffs began with Blake Treinen rescuing a wobbly Dodgers bullpen, the 36-year-old right-hander replacing Michael Kopech and escaping a two-on, one-out eighth-inning jam and throwing 39 pitches for a five-out save in the National League Division Series opener against the San Diego Padres.

Saturday night was payback time, with left-hander Alex Vesia throwing Treinen a life preserver after Treinen yielded a run, gave up two more singles and hit a batter and pushed his pitch count to 33 as the Dodgers moved perilously close to blowing a three-run lead in Game 2 of the World Series.

NEW YORK — Fans crowded into Dodger Stadium for Friday’s World Series opener, among them the wives and girlfriends of the players on the home team. One of the girlfriends was missing, though: She had a big game, too.

Ben Casparius was nothing but supportive.

“She’s in the midst of their season,” he said. “They’re gearing up for the playoffs, too.”

The Dodgers and Yankees, two of the most storied franchises in baseball history, have similar win-loss records this season and two of the biggest payrolls in sports. But though the World Series teams match up closely on paper, there’s one category where the Dodgers have a clear edge: their stadium.

Dodger Stadium, born in 1962 and now the third oldest park in baseball after Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park, is a jewel of a place that to this day captures the quirky, futuristic, giddily optimistic spirit of midcentury Los Angeles in what is possibly baseball’s most bucolic setting (minus the ridiculous, sprawling parking lot).

The World Series betting odds might be in the Dodgers’ favor, but when it comes to the battle of the brands, the Yankees have a leg up (sorry, Angelenos).

The Yankees are the highest-valued team in Major League Baseball with a valuation of $7.6 billion and its brand is valued at an estimated $1.2 billion, according to an analysis this year from Forbes. The Dodgers are the runner-up, with a $5.5-billion valuation and $1.1-billion brand.

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani wasn’t with the Dodgers as they left the ballpark and headed to the airport on Saturday night, staying back in Los Angeles to get an MRI exam on the left shoulder he partially dislocated in Game 2 of the World Series.

But, before the group was even in the air, Ohtani let his teammates know he wouldn’t be far behind.

“He texted the whole team as we were on our way to the airport and said he was going to be fine [and] he was going to play,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “So we all put it to the side at that moment. We said, ‘Alright, he’s got us.’ We’ll be ready for him to be in the lineup.”

In 2019, when Gerrit Cole spurned his hometown Angels to sign with the New York Yankees, his agent did not mince words in explaining why.

“It really came down to a decision about world championship play,” agent Scott Boras said then. “He and [wife] Amy’s primary goal was to win a world championship. In the end, he had to make a very difficult decision, but in his mind, that pursuit of those world championships was something that was in the forefront of his final decision.”

The Yankees have the most championships of any major league team. In awarding Cole what was then the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, the Yankees outbid the Dodgers. And, in his fifth season with the Yankees, Cole is in the World Series.

Joe Davis awoke Saturday morning, still fretting.

He is a perfectionist. He had provided a pretty perfect call of a pretty perfect moment the night before. In six words, he had delivered a magical homage to the best broadcaster in baseball history and the most dramatic moment in Dodgers history.

Were they just the right words? At just the right time?

NEW YORK — The Dodgers breathed a collective sigh of relief on Sunday.

After Shohei Ohtani left Game 2 of the World Series with a partially dislocated left shoulder, the team is optimistic that he’ll be back in the lineup for Game 3 on Monday, manager Dave Roberts said.

“He’s got to still go through the workout [today] and swing the bat,” Roberts said Sunday, ahead of the Dodgers’ off-day workout at Yankee Stadium. “But today feels better than yesterday, and our assumption is tomorrow’s going to feel better than today. So with that, that’s what I’m banking on.”

The Dodgers continue the postseason Monday when they face the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 5:08 p.m. PDT and will air on Fox and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Espa?ol) in the Los Angeles area.

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 3 of the World Series:

Here’s the TV schedule for the remaining games in the best-of-seven series (all times Pacific):

• Game 4: Tuesday, 5:08 p.m. at New York | Fox, Fox Deportes
• Game 5*: Wednesday, 5:08 p.m. at New York | Fox, Fox Deportes
• Game 6*: Friday, Nov. 1, 5:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | Fox, Fox Deportes
• Game 7*: Saturday, Nov. 2, 5:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | Fox, Fox Deportes