Volpe’s hit sparked a comeback after Freeman’s homer, the Yankees beat the Dodgers 11-4 to force Game 5 of the World Series.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifteen years after little Anthony Volpe watched the Yankees parade with the World Series trophy, he saved their season and kept alive their hopes of an improbable title.

New York moved closer to winning the World Series when Freddie Freeman hit another home run in the first inning.

Volpe, a New York native whose family has idolized stripes for generations, included knee-high sliders and may have changed the look of the series, too. His third-inning grand slam lifted the Yankees to an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, forcing a Game 5.

“The place was shaking. I felt the ground literally shake,” Yankees catcher Austin Wells said.

Wells and Gleyber Torres added homers for the Yankees, who opened the game in the top of the eighth with five runs.

New York, which scored just seven points in its first three games, regained some of its swagger. Wells spoke after the game wearing a Yankees T-shirt that read “Fully operational Death Star,” referring to a 2018 joke by general manager Brian Cashman.

Fans in the sold-out crowd of 49,354 chanted Volpe’s name during the ninth inning.

“It’s like finally seeing the best hitting at Yankee Stadium in the World Series,” Aaron Boone said after his first World Series win as New York’s manager. “When Anthony hit the ball, it was funny to watch Yankee Stadium explode.”

Wells said the tough situation following Monday’s defeat had eased the pressure.

“Why not go out tomorrow and have some fun?” he described it as a mood.

Freeman scored in his sixth straight game when he sent a slider from rookie Luis Gil to short right field after a Mookie Betts double. He became the first player to homer in the first four games of the World Series, and his streak of long balls in six straight games is one better than Houston’s George Springer in 2017 and 2019.

“I’ll look back on this after hopefully we win and wrap this thing up tomorrow,” Freeman said. “Pretty cool. Of course, I hope I can continue working tomorrow.”

Game 5 is Wednesday night, pitting Yankees ace Gerrit Cole against Dodgers shortstop Jack Flaherty in a rematch of Game 1.

Looking to become the first team to overcome a 3–0 series deficit, New York took a 5–2 lead on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s hit to Daniel Hudson.

“All it takes is one hit,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said.

Volpe sent Hudson’s first pitch into the left seats.

“I practically blacked out as soon as I saw him go over the fence,” Volpe said.

Volpe, 23, a Gold Glove winner in his second major league season, also doubled and became the first player in Series history to hit a grand slam and steal a pair of bases in the same game. He was 8 years old the last time the Yankees won the series.

Volpe scored New York’s first run when it walked after being down 0–2 in the second inning. He made a base-running error when he went back to second to ground out, and failed to score Wells’ double off the center field wall – kicking himself in anger. Verdugo followed with an RBI grounder.

“They’re going to fight,” Betts said. “If you’ve made it this far, you have a resilient team that will fight all the time.”

Los Angeles closed with a 6-4 lead in the fifth with a two-run blast that included Will Smith’s homer from Gil and Freeman’s RBI grounder. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman won a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play that was initially ruled out but was overturned on video review.

Wells hit a second-deck homer in the sixth against Landon Nack, and Verdugo added another hit grounder in the eighth — capping an 11-inning at-bat — leading off Torres’ three-run homer from Brent Honeywell.

Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Maiza strung together five scoreless innings of relief with one hit and seven strikeouts, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first losing sweep in ​​​​series since 1976.

“Result-wise, having six guys in your bullpen feeling good and rested, I feel good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Twenty-one of the previous 24 teams with a 3-0 series lead went on to win, all except the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees against the New York Giants, and the Baltimore Orioles. 1970 against the Cincinnati Reds. All three series ended in five games.

The 2004 Boston Red Sox, emerging from Roberts’ stolen base, are the only team to overcome a 3–0 deficit in any round to defeat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.

Judge drove in his first run of the series with an RBI single in the eighth and went 2-for-15 in four games. Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani is also 2-for-15 after going 1-for-4 with a single, his first hit since partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2.

New York snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Dodgers dating back to 1981. The Yankees got their first seven RBIs from the bottom three hitters in their batting order, Volpe, Wells and Verdugo, who went 4-for-32 with three RBIs in the Series.

After the game, Volpe was interviewed by former Yankees captain Derek Jeter, now a Fox broadcaster.

“This is my dream, but it was the dreams of all my friends, all my cousins, probably too. But winning the World Series came first. undoubtedly. Nothing else compares. So there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Volpe said.

Former Boston star David Ortiz, also a Fox commentator, gave Volpe a shirt.

“It’s in my locker,” Volpe said. “I can’t wear this. There’s him and the Red Sox.”

NEXT

Cole allowed one run in six-plus innings in the first — Kiké Hernandez tripled in the fifth when right fielder Juan Soto took a bad route and then scored on Smith’s sacrifice fly. Flaherty gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings, a two-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton.

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