LOS ANGELES – Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one hit in 6⅓ innings, Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night and the Los Angeles Dodgers homered three long-ball innings off Carlos Rodón to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday. -0 World Series lead.

Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández also went deep for the Dodgers and watched as star slugger Shohei Ohtani left the field with a left arm injury in the bottom of the seventh inning.

After the Yankees pulled to within 4–2 on Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single in the ninth off Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia relieved with the bases loaded and retired the batter in the first inning to save Jose Trevino.

Yamamoto allowed Juan Soto to strike out the third inning, then retired his final 11 batters and 15 of his final 16 batters.

Soto also singled in the ninth and scored on Stanton’s single to third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. He singled and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Treinen then struck out Anthony Volpe before Vesia was relieved.

Ohtani grabbed his left forearm after being tagged by shortstop Anthony Volpe and was caught stealing second base in the final out of the seventh inning. He lay next to the bag for a few minutes before being attended to by the coaches and leaving the field.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported from the Dodgers dugout that the issue was with Ohtani’s left shoulder.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Of the 56 teams that led 2-0 in the World Series, 45 won the championship.

New York’s Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three hits and hit .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

Soto’s tying homer on an inside fastball was the only run Yamamoto allowed in two starts and 13⅓ innings against the Yankees this year. The rookie left to a huge ovation and gave fans a small tip of his hat as he walked toward the dugout.

Yamamoto joined the Dodgers last December 12-year contract worth $325 million – a record for pitchers – teaming up with Ohtani to create record interest in Major League Baseball in Japan.

Yamamoto was sidelined from June 15 to September 10 due to a strained rotator cuff. It was his best start since the injury.

In his longest outing since his start in the Bronx, Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a five-pitch lineup that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

He pitched his best game of the regular season in June at Yankee Stadium, allowing three hits in seven shutout innings. Hernández had three homers and nine RBIs in this three-game series.

One night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history to make it 3-2 with two outs in the 10th inning towards a 6-3 victoryEdman put the Dodgers ahead with a solo shot in the second.

After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández homered to the right-center pavilion for a 3-for-27 strikeout.

Before Friday, Freeman, who had not pitched deep since Sept. 16, was greeted with loud cheers before each plate appearance. He worked the count in full and also headed to right-center.

Freeman, who is playing with a right ankle sprain, has appeared in four consecutive Series games dating back to Atlanta’s final two games against Houston in 2021. That’s just one record held by the Astros’ George Springer.

All three of the Dodgers’ homers came on fastballs from Rodón, who was allowed to hit 31 long balls during the regular season, good for second in the major leagues. Los Angeles scored back-to-back for the second time in the series after Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager homered against Yankees lefty Ron Guidry in Game 5 in 1981 for a 2-1 lead.

Rodón allowed four runs and six hits in 3⅓ innings.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 Series lead for the first time since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley won the opener and Orel Hershiser tossed a three-hit shutout. The Yankees are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they won three straight at home and lost Games 6 and 7 in Arizona.