By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS, Rafu Sports Editor
That sigh of relief you heard echoing through Los Angeles came after word that Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is expected to play in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday.
On Sunday, several media outlets reported that manager Dave Roberts expects the star designated hitter to be in the lineup at Yankee Stadium as the Dodgers look to extend their 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“Today feels better than yesterday, and our assumption is tomorrow’s going to feel better than today,” Roberts said at the Dodgers’ off-day workout in New York. “So with that, that’s what I’m banking on.”
The team and fans alike were holding their collective breath after Ohtani left the field in pain at the end of the seventh inning of Game 2 on Saturday. After sliding awkwardly in second base, Ohtani remained on the ground in obvious pain and could be heard on television telling the trainer that he had injured his left shoulder.
The injury was described as a “slight left shoulder subluxation,” a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint.
After the Dodgers held on for a 4-2 victory on Saturday, Roberts said he was initially encouraged by the strength and range of motion Ohtani was exhibiting with the shoulder.
By Sunday afternoon, Roberts appeared more confident in Ohtani’s fitness.
“If he is able to play, willing to play, he’s going to play,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers find themselves halfway to a championship after Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched into the seventh inning one Saturday, allowing just one hit – a solo home run by Juan Soto – in a strong pitching performance in his career World Series debut.
“I was trying to focus on facing one hitter at a time, so I was able to throw a strike when I wanted, and I was concentrating on being able to face the hitters one at a time,” said Yamamoto, who had his longest outing since June, when he was equally effective against the Yankees.
The right-hander, whose first start in the majors was a disaster against the San Diego Padres in Seoul, has been showing what the Dodgers were banking on when they signed him to the richest-ever contract for a starting pitcher.
He earned his second win this postseason, striking out four, walking two, and saying the key to his success Saturday was keeping calm and collected on the mound.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Roberts lifted Yamamoto, who walked to the dugout to chants of “Yoshi! Yoshi!” from the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium.
“I think the cheers from everyone in the crowd made me perform better than I would have otherwise,” he said.
The Dodgers took the lead on a solo home run by Tommy Edman in the second inning. After Soto tied the game in the third, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back shots to give the Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish.
“Yoshi was really, really good today,” Edman said after the win. “He was on the attack. Watching from center field, it was fun to see how much his stuff was moving. Really did a good job keeping them off balance and just did a great job of pitching. That’s a good lineup, and to give up only one hit over 6-1/3, it was really impressive to watch. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game.”
Edman, who was receiving from a wrist injury and didn’t play in a major league game until August after being traded to the Dodgers, was asked about going from inactivity to playing on baseball’s biggest stage.
“Yeah, it’s definitely everything I could have imagined,” he said. “This is what you work for as a baseball player. You grind your whole life, take thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of swings of batting practice, just constantly working, working, working.”
This is the first meeting of the storied franchises in the World Series since 1981. Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) will be at Yankee Stadium beginning Monday. If needed, Games 6 and 7 would be back at Dodger Stadium.
