World Series, Game 3

NEW YORK — Two patterns are emerging in the 2024 World Series, and they’ve combined to put the Dodgers on the brink of a championship.

One: Freddie Freeman, the 35-year-old first baseman whose badly sprained right ankle had him hobbling from base to base earlier this month, keeps homering in every World Series game. It’s the kind of performance that’s remembered decades later.

And two: The Yankees just aren’t hitting. It starts with Aaron Judge, of course — he went hitless in three at-bats with a walk Monday — but the rest of New York’s lineup didn’t do much better, combining for just five hits despite a late home run from Alex Verdugo.

The result was a 4-2 Dodgers win that leaves Los Angeles one win away from a second championship in the last five years. As for the Yankees, they were completely outplayed in their first home World Series game since 2009, and must now win four straight times or see their season end in what they would describe as a failure.

“Stay focused,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There’s just got to be urgency. I just don’t want to let these guys up for air.”

It was Freeman’s third home run of the World Series that got the Dodgers started — a two run shot hit beyond the short right field porch in the top of the first inning. The swing was yet another game-changer from Freeman, who already has a walk-off grand slam and a solo homer in the series.