Bottom Of Yankees Order Leads Club To Season Saving Victory

The depth of the Dodgers’ lineup has them within one win of a championship.

On Tuesday night, the back end of the Yankees’ lineup ensured the Dodgers stayed one win away from a championship.

Seventh-place hitter Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam in the third inning and ninth-place hitter Alex Verdugo’s 11-pitch hit sparked a five-run eighth inning as the Yankees avoided being swept with an 11-4 Game 4 victory.

Eighth-place hitter Austin Wells also homered in the sixth to begin providing the insurance for the Yankees, who went ahead for good on Volpe’s homer but had to navigate six straight at-bats with the tying or go-ahead runs at the plate after Freddie Freeman (who else? ) pulled the Dodgers within 5–4 via his fifth-inning RBI fielder’s choice.

The trio of Volpe, Wells and Verdugo finished 5-for-10 with seven RBIs, two walks and no strikeouts in 12 plate appearances. The Yankees’ 7-8-9 hitters — Volpe, Wells and Verdugo in addition to first baseman Anthony Rizzo and backup catcher Jose Trevino — entered Tuesday hitting just .118 (4-for-34) with one homer, three RBIs, three walks and 12 strikeouts in the first three World Series games.

“I think there were a lot of big stepping stones,” Verdugo said Tuesday night. “There’s a lot of guys starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more rhythm at the plate and getting their swing. So for us, that’s big.”

The biggest fight may have been Verdugo’s fight against Brent Honeywell Jr. As decisive as Volpe’s homer was, he had spent most of the postseason producing encouraging plate appearances. The shortstop entered Tuesday hitting .244 (10-of-41), but with nine walks and 13 strikeouts.

But Verdugo hit .195 (8-for-41) with a homer and five RBIs to go along with five walks and six strikeouts in his first 12 playoff games. His homer was a two-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning Monday as the Yankees fell 4-2.

On Tuesday, the Yankees led 6-4 with one out and Wells and Volpe on second and third when Verdugo fell into an 0-2 hole. He fouled six pitches and took two others before hitting a sharp grounder to second, where a retired Gavin Lux couldn’t throw out Volpe at the plate.

“I think the biggest thing is just fighting and going up there and competing,” Verdugo said. “I just tried to do everything I could to extend that game and let it be productive. Get guys on third with less than two outs, you’ve got to find a way to get it going.

“And if we don’t (and) we end up losing that game by a run, you’re kicking yourself in the butt.”

Gleyber Torres ended any possibility of a Dodgers rally by hitting a three-run homer three pitches later.

“I feel like it was a good one to come to,” Verdugo said. “And ‘GT’ at the top, feel free to take a ‘GT’ hack. And he did.”

Almost as important, Juan Soto followed with a double and scored on Aaron Judge’s single. While Torres and Soto have been terrific this month — hitting a combined .290 with six homers, 17 RBIs and 21 walks against just 15 strikeouts — the RBI was the first in the World Series for Umpire, who is hitting .152 in the playoffs and .198 in 217 career postseason at-bats.

If Judge messes with the bottom of the order, the Yankees become a much more dangerous candidate to make the first comeback from a three-game deficit in the World Series.

The hitters occupying the 7-8-9 spots in the order are batting .255 with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 149 at-bats this postseason for the Dodgers, who have scored 88 runs combined – the ninth most in playoff history.

It took the Yankees until they were on the brink of elimination to get similar production from the bottom of their order. Now it just has to happen three more times.

“Those are the guys who have to set the table for the big guys,” Soto said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are right now. I think they’re a big part of this.

“We need every single guy in that lineup.”