NEW YORK — For nearly two hours Tuesday night, the most surreal momentAnthony VolpeHis life came in the third inning of Game 4 of the World Series.
TheNew York YankeesA Yankees fan who lived on the Upper East Side until her family crossed the Hudson and moved to New Jersey when she was in the fourth grade, she provided much-needed oxygen to her club during its demise.
It was held in the form of a grand slam competition Los Angeles Dodgers facilitator Daniel Hudson — a 107.6-mph rocket that landed a few rows off the left-field wall at Yankee Stadium — gave the Yankees a chance they wouldn’t relinquish. Route 11-4 cutting their series deficit to 3-1.
Fifteen years after the Yankees’ last World Series run in 2009, when he was 8 years old and had less than straight teeth, Volpe pitched in streaks in the World Series.
Nothing could reach him. Then, about two hours later, something happened.
“VOL-PE! VOL-PE! VOL-PE!”
Chants began with the bleachers before spreading to the rest of the building in the ninth inning. They echoed as Volpe lined up at shortstop. The moment, he said, transcended the grand slam.
“No. 1,” Volpe said. “Definitely #1.”
The Yankees were looking for a momentum explosion after scoring seven runs in the first three games of this clash of coastal titans. In three defeats, they have failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities and have pushed themselves to the top after failing to hold onto the lead ever since. Nestor Cortes submitted Game 1 grand slam.
It seemed like an early Tuesday Freddie Freeman He extended the World Series streak with a home run, hitting a laser over the short right-field entrance for a two-run homer. record six.The swing blew out the sold-out crowd. The Yankees then squandered two scoring chances in the first two innings. The scenario was familiar.
The Yankees stranded two runners in the first inning. Second, Volpe decided to mark the ball Austin Wells A hit to the wall in center field can cost a run. Instead of Wells going for a triple, Volpe advanced just 90 feet and Wells hit a double.Alex VerdugoVolpe scored, but that was the only run the Yankees produced.
“It’s completely on me,” said Volpe, who finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. “It’s not hard study, we practice, little leaguers do.”
Volpe avenged his mistake in the third inning with the most important effort of his career. Hudson, the second reliever the Dodgers sent on a scheduled day off, was hit. Aaron Judge step by step, gave a hill Jazz Chisholm Jr.and walked Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases. Later Anthony Rizzo out, Volpe came to the plate with two holes looking for the fastball. But after he hit against him in Game 3, Hudson recognized the rotation of his slider, ignited the building, and changed the trajectory of the series.
“I think I blacked out as soon as I saw him go over the fence,” Volpe said.
It was the Yankees shortstop’s first career postseason home run and first World Series since Tino Martinez hit a home run in Game 1 in 1998. San Diego Padres. At 23 years, 184 days, Volpe became the youngest Yankees player to hit a grand slam in a World Series since Mickey Mantle in 1953.
“It’s a big hit, we’ve been looking for it,” Verdugo said. “It happened and it was like a big exhalation in the dugout, and everyone could play freely and easily again and just worry about adding and maintaining the lead.”
The Dodgers took a two-run lead, both of which were chargedLuis Gilin the fifth inning, but the New York Bulls stopped them there. Five Yankees relievers held the Dodgers hitless over the final four innings, and the offense worked against Los Angeles’ relievers.
Wells, who entered the postseason 4-for-43 with 19 strikeouts, smashed a solo home run into the upper deck in the sixth inning. After two innings, the Yankees broke the game open with five runs.Gleyber TorresA three-run homer, forcing the Dodgers to pinch hitBrent HoneywellThrowing 50 pitches.
The cushion allowed Yankees manager Aaron Boone not to use it Luke Weaverthe team’s best reliever, the right-hander, for the ninth inning after throwing 1 inning, which should make him available for Game 5, when the Yankees will try to become the first team in the world to force a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0. Series.
“One thing about us is we love history and we love making history,” Chisholm said. “So for us, we’re trying to make history right now.”
The Yankees still have a chance to make history by becoming just the second team to rally from a 3-0 hole in a postseason series thanks to Volpe’s third-inning breakthrough.
So far, Volpe has gone 1-12 with two walks and seven strikeouts in the World Series, reversing his strong start to the playoffs. After slashing .243/.293/.657 in the regular season, the second-year shortstop hit .310 with an .804 OPS through the American League Championship Series. He swung harder and walked more than he did in the regular season — eight walks in 37 plate appearances. He attributed his improved performance to the Yankees’ four weekends of work leading up to the start of the regular season and AL Division Series.
On Tuesday, the effort sparked a journey he thinks about “every night,” growing up with two moments he’ll never forget.
“It’s crazy to think about,” Volpe said. “It’s my dream, but it’s my friends’ dreams, all my cousins’ dreams, and maybe my sister’s dream, too. But winning the World Series was the first priority. Nothing else compares to it. So we still have a lot of work to do.”
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