The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win off a surprising World Series victory over the New York Yankees – and their second title in five years – as Freddie Freeman's historic power streak continues to set the tone for the highly anticipated showdown between baseball's two most storied franchises One way street reduced traffic.

The Dodgers' veteran first baseman tied George Springer's home run record in five consecutive World Series games with a two-run drive into the right-field stands in the first inning in Game 3 on Monday night, beginning a fourth :2 win that opened a commanding three-nil lead for Los Angeles in the best-of-seven game.

“When you come into a road park, you want to try to strike early and calm the crowd down, and we did that in the first inning,” said Freeman, an eight-time All-Star and 2020 National League MVP.

The sizzling atmosphere on a chilly 52°F (11°C) evening at Yankee Stadium, hosting a World Series game for the first time in 15 years, intensified after a celebratory first pitch from club legend Derek Jeter and a pre-game appearance from South Bronx rapper Fat Joe – but the in-form Freeman wasted no time in calming the boisterous Bronx Zoo with a swing of the bat.

After Shohei Ohtani, playing two days after partially dislocating his left shoulder, walked on four pitches to lead the game, followed by a Mookie Betts flyout, Freeman drove a 1-2 cutter about five rows in the lower deck in right field gives Los Angeles the early lead.

Walker Buehler and six relievers combined for a five-hitter for the Dodgers, who scored runs in the third inning by Betts and in the sixth inning by Kiké Hernández. The shutout remained intact until the Yankees got their final hit in the bottom of the ninth, when left fielder Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run off Dodgers reliever Ryan Brasier that halved the deficit and turned the lineup. But from there, Braiser coaxed Gleyber Torres into a groundout to reach the final out, leaving the Yankees on the brink of a World Series victory for the fourth time in their 41 games.

New York only put a runner on second base once against Buehler, when Giancarlo Stanton made a double in the fourth. But when Stanton was sent to shallow left field on a single by Anthony Volpe, the lumbering designated hitter was blasted to the plate on a perfect throw by Teoscar Hernández to preserve the 3-0 lead.

It was an inspired performance from the 30-year-old Buehler, who has shined in the postseason in the past but struggled this season in his return from a second Tommy John surgery. His only win all year before Monday came against the Cincinnati Reds in May before his season was derailed by a hip injury. This applies less to New York starter Clarke Schmidt, who was chased before the end of the third period after walking four times.

“Walker Buehler has done this his whole career,” Freeman said. “Big games, big moments, he steps up when you need him. Five strong, strong innings, and our bullpen did a great job. That’s what you have to do, you have to make a pitch in October and that’s what we did.”

The only team in Major League history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series was the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, a comeback, that was sparked by the performance of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. stolen base in game 4.

“Hopefully we can tell this amazing story and shock the world,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But at the moment it's about getting a lead, winning a game and forcing another and then go from there. But we have to grab one first.”

Three days after hitting the first walk-off grand slam in Fall Classic history, the 35-year-old Freeman became the third player to finish in the top three, joining Hank Bauer in 1958 and Barry Bonds in 2002 Hitting a home run in a World Series The streak of five straight World Series games with a home run dates back to Atlanta's last two games against Houston in 2021.

Since Freeman's Game 1 blast Friday night, the Yankees' potent and expensive offense has been limited to four runs and nine hits in two contests. In Monday's defeat they struck 11 times, including four clean sheets, while falling to 4 from 20, with the runners-up in the series' scoring position.

Few have suffered as much as New York captain Aaron Judge, whose nightmarish World Series continued Monday when he went 0-for-3 with a walk and went 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in three games. The presumptive American League MVP is batting just .140 (6 for 43) in the postseason with a .580 OPS and 20 strikeouts.

“I’m not doing anything good for the team,” Judge said. “(I) just have to get up, take my walks when I can, and drive the baseball when I have something to hit.”

He may be running out of time. The Dodgers can clinch the franchise's eighth World Series championship and its first in a full season since 1988 with a win in Game 4 on Tuesday night in the Bronx. With just three healthy starters left, Los Angeles is expected to play their fourth bullpen game of these playoffs while rookie right-hander Luis Gil will take the mound for the Yankees.

The Dodgers and Yankees will meet in the World Series for the twelfth time. This makes it the most common duel in the history of the Fall Classic, but the first in 43 years. Once an inter-county battle when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, it has become a cross-coastal affair since their move to Los Angeles in 1958. Only one of their previous World Series meetings ended in a win, when the Dodgers trailed four straight times in 1963. Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.