World Series Game 2 takeaways: Dodgers win; Ohtani exits

Two games into the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are two wins away from a title.

After the Dodgers edged the New York Yankees in an unbelievable World Series opener on Friday night, they picked up where they left off in a 4-2 Game 2 victory but now await the status of superstar Shohei Ohtani after he exited because of an apparent shoulder injury. Following the game, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder and will undergo further testing Sunday, but his strength and range of motion are good.

How did L.A. double their Fall Classic lead? We’ve got it all covered, from live updates and analysis during the games to takeaways after the final pitch to what’s next for each team.

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Takeaways

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, New York Yankees 2

Los Angeles leads series 2-0

Dodgers: The Dodgers held off the Yankees to move to within two wins of a World Series title but now await word on the status of Shohei Ohtani after the superstar exited late in Game 2.

Ohtani had all of Dodger Stadium holding its collective breath when he left in the seventh inning after appearing to sustain a shoulder injury during a stolen-base attempt. Ohtani rolled around on the ground while grabbing his left arm before heading to the clubhouse.

The injury came on a night that Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who hadn’t pitched in a seventh inning of a game since June 7 — needed only 86 pitches to blanket the Yankees over 6⅓ innings and it looked as if he could have kept going. He used a five-pitch mix to get it done, including striking out Aaron Judge twice — once on a slider and once on a split finger. He gave up only one hit, two walks and struck out four. His only blemish was a third-inning home run by Juan Soto.

Yamamoto is looking stronger in this postseason after returning from an arm injury in September. It helped that his offense immediately gave him the lead back after the Soto home run as first baseman Freddie Freeman incurred multiple standing ovations — both before homering in the third inning of Game 2 and in response to his Game 1 winner.

Teoscar Hernandez also went deep — a two-run shot right before Freeman — as did Tommy Edman in the second inning, giving the Dodgers their second-most home runs (24) in a single postseason in franchise history. The win gives the Dodgers a commanding 2-0 lead with the series shifting to New York for Game 3 on Monday. — Jesse Rogers

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Yankees: The Yankees aren’t going to win the World Series with this version of Aaron Judge.

The presumptive American League MVP went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Saturday. He’s 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the World Series, and 6-for-40 (.150) with 19 strikeouts in the postseason. The Yankees have advanced this far without Judge supplying anything close to the production he provided during the regular season. The Yankees don’t necessarily need that version of Judge to resurface to win the World Series. But they will not beat the Dodgers four times in five games if Judge isn’t substantially better. Giancarlo Stanton belted a huge home run in Game 1. Juan Soto delivered the Yankees’ first two hits, including a home run, in Game 2. Judge, the third member of the Yankees’ slugging trio, needs to contribute in New York. — Jorge Castillo

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The big question for Game 3: As the Dodgers celebrated taking the first two games of the World Series, they did so with a question in the back of their minds: Will they have Ohtani at full strength for the rest of the series? Ohtani, who was caught stealing in the seventh inning, was helped off the field by training staff. An on-field microphone caught him saying his left shoulder was injured. After the game, Roberts said that it was a shoulder subluxation and the Dodgers were “encouraged” by the initial results before further testing.

Ohtani, the soon-to-be National League MVP, went 0-for-3 with a walk Saturday night. He is 1-for-8 in the series. And while the Dodgers are deep enough to replace him with Mookie Betts or Tommy Edman atop the lineup and with any number of bats at designated hitter, Ohtani is their best player, and losing him would be an enormous gut punch. In a follow-up postgame question about how the Dodgers would adjust without Ohtani, Roberts said “I’m expecting him to be there.” Regardless, the excitement of taking a 2-0 series lead was tempered by the specter of losing Ohtani for any period of time. — Jeff Passan

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