Neither the Dodgers nor Freddie Freeman has left much doubt in this Fall Classic.
The team is on the cusp of winning the World Series after Monday night’s 4-2 victory over the Yankees in Game 3 and Freeman is staring at MVP honors.
Freeman homered in a third straight game, leading the Dodgers offensive attack.
Overall, it was his fifth straight World Series game with a homer (dating to 2021 with the Braves), tying a record established by George Springer with the Astros (2017 and ’19).
And Freeman became the first player since Barry Bonds in 2002 to homer in the first three games of a World Series.
Freeman, who sprained his right ankle trying to avoid a tag at first base on Sept. 26, had a 17-game homerless drought before this series began.
“Those days off [last week] were huge for me,” Freeman said, referring to the five-day gap between the NLCS and World Series. “I got my ankle in a spot where every single game afterwards it’s not as bad as it was. … So I guess days off when you’re injured kind of help. I got my ankle to a spot where I could work on my swing and I got it into a good spot going in this series.”
After Shohei Ohtani walked leading off the game and Mookie Betts was retired, Freeman fell behind in the count 1-2 to Clarke Schmidt before smashing a cutter into the right-field seats.
Freeman’s signature moment in the series came in Game 1 on Friday, when he launched a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning against Nestor Cortes.
Freeman, playing on the gimpy ankle, evoked memories of Kirk Gibson’s miracle homer to sink the A’s in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Freeman returned in Game 2 to homer against Carlos Rodon in the fourth inning.
The Dodgers weren’t all Freeman on this night, but his homer put the team on the right track.
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In the third inning, Tommy Edman drew a leadoff walk against Schmidt and Betts delivered an RBI single that placed the Yankees in a 3-0 hole.
In the sixth, Gavin Lux was plunked and stole second before Kiké Hernandez’s RBI single gave the Dodgers a four-run cushion.
“We know what’s at stake [Tuesday],” Freeman said. “We have got a chance to be champions and we know their guys, they have got nothing to lose and they are going to do everything they can.”
Freeman’s outburst over the last three games almost ensures the Dodgers will have the National League MVP (Ohtani) and World Series MVP (Freeman).
But Freeman is more focused on the World Series trophy.
“I really just want to hoist that trophy,” he said. “I don’t care how that happens. I don’t care if I go 0-for-the-next-70 with 70 strikeouts, as long as we win, that is all I care about.”
