The Los Angeles Dodgers moved one win away from clinching a World Series title, taking a 3-0 series lead over the Yankees.
What to Know
- History may be on LA's side with a 3-0 lead, but manager Dave Roberts says there's ample motivation entering Game 4.
- A World Series win would be the Dodgers' first since 2020, but there was no victory parade following the pandemic-shortened season.
- Roberts was on the 2004 Red Sox team that rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
The Dodgers are on the verge of the storied baseball franchise's eighth World Series win and something that was missing from the team's last title in 2020.
A victory parade.
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Los Angeles is one win from a sweep of the Yankees entering Tuesday night's Game 4 after a 4-2 win Monday night behind dominant pitching from Walker Buehler.
The World Series title would be the team's first in a full season in 36 years. The 2020 season was shortened by the pandemic, which also thwarted plans for a victory parade in Los Angeles.
"Our guys are very heady, very hungry for a parade," said manager Dave Roberts after the Game 3 win. "So nothing is going to get in the way of that, nothing."
In October 1988, a large crowd of fans greeted the Dodgers in downtown LA during the victory parade. It was a much different scene in 2020 when the team issued a statement in the days following the World Series win indicating the celebration would have to wait.
Major League Baseball instituted significant changes for the 2020 season to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including a shortened season, neutral-site bubbles and other safety precautions.
Roberts knows better than most that a 3-0 comeback is unlikely, but not impossible.
He was part of the the 2004 Boston Red Sox team that defied history and rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Roberts stole a base against legendary Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4, a key play in the dramatic comeback and their long-time rivals' collapse.
The Red Sox went on to win the team's first World Series title in 86 years.
Roberts was asked whether he plans to reminder his team about the 2004 comeback.
“No, I won't. I won't," Roberts said. "I think that they're very familiar with 20 years ago and what can happen. I mean, anything's possible."
But history in on LA's side.
All 24 previous teams that have taken a 3-0 World Series lead have gone on to win the Series. Teams with a 3-0 Series lead have won the World Series in Game 4 21 times with the three exceptions being the Baltimore Orioles in 1970 against the Cincinnati Reds; the Yankees in 1937 against the New York Giants; and Philadelphia Athletics in 1910 against the Chicago Cubs.
All three teams went on to win the World Series in Game 5.
Tuesday's game, scheduled for 5:08 p.m. at Yankee Stadium, will be a bullpen game for Los Angeles against Yankees rookie right-hander Luis Gil.
Gil was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in the regular season. The Yankees were 19-10 in his starts, tying for the seventh-most among American League starters.
The Dodgers have won two of their previous three postseason bullpen games.
