NEW YORK -- Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first and Walker Buehler pitched five scoreless 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 best-of-seven 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. Buehler fanned five and walked two. 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 st.