Game 2 Was Worse

Game 2 of the World Series was worse for the Yankees than Game 1 was.

We were counting on 2 things: Scoring at least 3 runs in the 1st 9 innings, and Carlos Rodón pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as he did in the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians. Neither occurrence happened.

Tommy Edman of the Dodgers hit a home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Juan Soto hit one in the top of the 3rd. But Aaron Judge followed that by flying out. In the bottom of the 3rd, Rodón gave up back-to-back home runs to Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman, making it 4-1, and that pretty much ended the game in the Dodgers' favor.

Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. The key word, though, is "can" -- not "will." Gleyber Torres led off the game with a walk, but was stranded by, among other things, an Aaron Judge strikeout. Anthony Rizzo drew a walk with 1 out in the 2nd inning, and was stranded. Judge struck out again in the 6th. Rizzo was hit by a pitch with 2 out in the 7th, and was stranded. Through 8 innings, the Yankees had just 1 hit, the Soto homer.

The Yankees did threaten in the 9th. Soto led off with a single, and a wild pitch by Blake Treinen got him to 2nd base. But Judge struck out for the 3rd time in the game. Giancarlo Stanton singled Soto home. Jazz Chisholm singled. Rizzo was hit by a pitch again, loading the bases with 1 out, and bringing Anthony Volpe to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. But Volpe struck out, and Jose Trevino flew to left to leave the bases loaded and end the game.

Dodgers 4, Yankees 2. The Yankees trail the World Series, two games to none.

You cannot score 2 runs in the 1st 9 innings twice, and expect to win the World Series. They will have to score big in Games 3 and 4, just to force a Game 5.

The Yankees did come back from 2-0 down to beat the Dodgers in 1956 and 1978 (and the Braves in 1958 and 1996) -- but then, the Dodgers did it to the Yankees in 1955 and 1981, and swept the Yankees in 1963. (For the Yankees' 8 World Series wins over the Dodgers, none of them was a sweep.)

And if you're looking to 1978 for inspiration, Game 3 will be started by Clarke Schmidt, as it was then by Ron Guidry. Schmidt is no Ron Guidry. Chisholm is a decent 3rd baseman, but he's no Graig Nettles, whose defensive play turned the tide. And nobody, not even Soto and Stanton, has been a Reggie Jackson this October. At this point, I'd settle for a Roy White, whose home run opened the scoring in Game 3 and started the comeback.

As they say in medical dramas, I'm not going to lie to you, it doesn't look good.