Freddie Freeman, Dodgers take commanding 3-0 lead vs. Yanks

NEW YORK — Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first and Walker Buehler pitched five innings of two-hit ball as the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled within one win of their eighth World Series title in team history with a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday night.

Los Angeles leads the series 3-0 and can clinch its second championship in five years and its first in a 162-game season since 1988 when it plays Game 4 on Tuesday. The Yankees are trying to avoid getting swept in the World Series for the first time since 1976, when they fell to the Cincinnati Reds.

Freeman, who dealt with a sprained right ankle in the previous two rounds of the playoffs, homered for the third straight game, lifting a 1-2 cutter from New York starter Clarke Schmidt (0-1) into the right field seats three batters into the first.

Freeman hit his fifth career World Series homer after hitting the first walk-off grand slam in Fall Classic history in Game 1 on Friday before going yard again in Game 2 on Saturday.

Buehler (1-1) allowed a one-out double by Giancarlo Stanton in the fourth and a single by Anthony Volpe later in the inning. Stanton was cut down at the plate thanks to a strong one-hop throw from left fielder Teoscar Hernandez on Volpe’s single.

Schmidt struggled with his command and allowed three runs on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked four, issuing a free pass to Shohei Ohtani to start the game ahead of Freeman’s latest blast.

Mookie Betts hit an RBI single in the third after Ohtani’s groundout moved Tommy Edman to second. Enrique Hernandez hit a single in the sixth off Jake Cousins that scored Gavin Lux, who was hit in the back by a pitch and stole second.

The Yankees put two on in the bottom of the sixth against Brusdar Graterol, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded into a forceout against Alex Vesia. Dodgers left-hander Anthony Banda got a called third strike on Gleyber Torres with two on to end the seventh.

Alex Verdugo hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth for the Yankees, but Torres then grounded out to end the game.