The World Series heads to New York on Monday evening and many interesting storylines will be on display in Game 3.
One of the most important is the health of Shohei Ohtani, who slid awkwardly into second base in the seventh inning of Game 2 and left the game clearly in pain.
The whole baseball world held its breath. His shoulder was partially dislocated. He’s expected to play, but nothing is certain.
Another huge story is Aaron Judge’s struggles in the World Series and the postseason overall. He’s now 6-for-40 this postseason, including 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. That includes 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the World Series, when he has whiffed on 14 of the 24 swings he’s taken (58.3 percent).
However, when you have someone like Judge, all that can change with one swing of the bat.
Watch World Series Game 3 FREE on FuboGame Date: Monday, October 28, 2024
Game Time: 8:08 p.m. ET
TV Channel: FOX (Watch FREE on Fubo)
Live stream Game 3: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers on Fubo – Start your free trial today
This started out as one of the most anticipated World Series matchups in recent memory and Game 1 showed exactly why. Freddie Freeman hit a walkoff grand slam, the first time in World Series history. A theme for the Yankees in this series, especially in Game 2, is their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. The Yankees are hitting .143 with RISP and have stranded 17 runners in the first two World Series games against the Dodgers.
Another storyline is the Big 3 vs. the Big 3 – the Yankees sending out Juan Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton vs. the Dodgers’ Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman. However, the Dodgers have a deeper lineup with trade deadline acquisition Tommy Edman coming up big this postseason. He won the NLCS MVP against the Mets. Enrique Hernandez’s ability to elevate his game in the postseason has also been impressive. The Yankees need the bottom of the lineup to produce or it could be a short series.
Only 15 teams in 92 tries have won a best-of-seven postseason series in which they dropped the first two games. The Yankees Game 3 starter Clarke Schmidt takes the ball opposite the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler. Buehler’s regular season didn’t go as expected once he returned from a second Tommy John surgery, but the right-hander has had a strong postseason for the Dodgers. In Game 3 of the NLCS against the Mets he tossed four scoreless innings. The Yankees have already burned through their two best starters and a good chunk of the bullpen, so Schmidt going deeper would be ideal. Schmidt had a strong regular season, notching a 2.85 ERA in 16 starts. He hasn’t given the Yankees much depth in his two playoff starts, lasting 4 ²/₃ innings each time, but he has allowed just two earned runs in each of his outings.
The Yankees are going to need to feed off of the energy of a hungry crowd in the Bronx that hasn’t seen a World Series home game since the 2009 title run.
Watch World Series Game 3 FREE on Fubo