LOS ANGELES (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto walked back to his dugout and gave a slight wave of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to give the Los Angeles Dodgers control of the World Series.

Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings, Freddie Freeman hit a home run for the second straight game and Los Angeles defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday to take a 2-0 series lead.

But the Dodgers will travel to New York and are unsure if Shohei Ohtani will be able to play after their game The biggest star has partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide on the second base.

“Sometime tonight, tomorrow, we’ll do some testing and then we’ll know more in the next few days,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The power was great. The range of motion is good. So we’re encouraged.”

Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández also went well behind starter Carlos Rodón, who set a Yankees World Series record by allowing three home runs.

New York was able to score heading into the ninth as the Yankees made it 4-2 on Giancarlo Stanton’s one-out RBI single off Blake Treinen. Anthony Volpe struck out with the bases loaded, and Alex Vesia came in to retire pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on a first-pitch flyout for his first postseason save.

“If I think back to my front yard at my house, that’s what we would imagine,” Vesia said.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. 45 of the 56 teams that are 2-0 in the World Series have won the title.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a long series and we have to make it a long series now. We will not shy away.”

Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He is 1-for-9 in the series, hitting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

“Just expanding the zone. That’s what it really comes down to,” Judge said. “I think it’s about letting things happen rather than letting the game come to you. … Plain and simple, I need to start hitting.”

Yamamoto turned down the Yankees last December and joined the Dodgers on a 12-year, $325 million contract, a record for pitchers. Together with Ohtani, he created record interest in Major League Baseball in Japan.

The rookie right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on June 7, but was sidelined from June 15 to September 10 with a rotator cuff strain. That was his best start since the injury.

Yamamoto gave up Juan Soto’s home run in the third inning and then retired his final 11 batters.

“He was made for these moments,” Hernández said. “He did it in Japan before he came here, and as soon as he got here he did it here.”

Yamamoto struck out four balls and walked two with a five-pitch array that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

“It was kind of a mixed feeling because I was really looking forward to it and happy, but after that feeling, I started trying to concentrate,” Yamamoto said through a translator.

Soto’s fourth postseason home run, off an inside fastball, was the only run Yamamoto allowed in two starts and 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees this year.

Soto also hit a single off the right field wall in the ninth and scored on Stanton’s one-out base hit from the third base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a single and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases for the second time in the game.

But the rally ended there.

“That’s everything to me, playing at the highest level, with the two biggest teams you can play for, the biggest franchises, the biggest history,” Vesia said.

A night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history, turning a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning into a 6-3 victory, Edman gave the Dodgers one Solo shot in the second inning for the lead.

After Soto tied it, Mookie Betts hit a single with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández scored on a 3-for-27 slide to the pavilion in right-center. Freeman, who before Friday had not gone deep since Sept. 16, worked the count and scored again to right-center.

Freeman, who suffered a sprained right ankle, has scored in four consecutive Series games, starting in Atlanta’s last two games against Houston in 2021. That’s one shy of Astros outfielder George Springer’s record.

Freeman had six days off to attend the World Series.

“I was able to calm my ankle,” he said. “Hopefully we can get on with the flight tonight – I’ve had a lot of swelling on flights – and hopefully tomorrow we can get it done and secure a good spot for Game 3.”

All three Dodgers home runs came on fastballs from Rodón, whose 31 longballs allowed during the regular season were tied for second-most in the major leagues. Los Angeles hit back-to-back home runs for the second time in the Series after Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager hit Yankees left-hander Ron Guidry 2-1 in Game 5 in 1981.

Rodón gave up four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He only got one hit and missed his fastball.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead for the first time since 1988 when Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley won the opener and Orel Hershiser followed with a three-hit shutout. The Yankees are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when they rebounded from three straight wins at home and lost Games 6 and 7 in Arizona.

Ohtani’s MRI and the determination of his availability are highly anticipated by the Dodgers and their fans.

“Not just the dugout, but the entire stadium fell silent,” Hernández said. “Hopefully he’s doing well and the day off tomorrow will help him get back on the field on Monday.”

NEXT

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt and Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler will start Monday. Schmidt has a 3.86 ERA in two postseason starts and no decisions in Game 3 against Kansas City and Cleveland. Buehler also started two outings in Game 3, allowing six runs over five innings in a 6-5 loss to San Diego and pitching four innings in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb