Erik Boland: Yankees face big test to start second half with Dodgers coming to town
Enrique Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers is caught stealing second base by Anthony Volpe of the Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 28, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers met in the 2024 World Series, a five-game victory for the Dodgers that gave them the first of their back-to-back titles.
The ''rematch'' came May 30-June 1, 2025, at Dodger Stadium when the Yankees lost the first two games before avoiding a sweep with a victory on a Sunday night.
But this weekend, starting Friday night as the second half of the season begins, marks the first time Yankee fans will see Dodgers uniforms at Yankee Stadium since one of the home team’s most memorable — and embarrassing — October defeats.
It was Oct. 30, 2024, a seasonably warm 67-degree night in the Bronx.
The Yankees, trailing 3-1 in the series, coasted into the fifth inning with a 5-0 lead and Gerrit Cole on the mound.
A return to Dodger Stadium for Game 6 seemed a lock.
What followed, as few Yankees fans could ever forget, was a disastrous top of the fifth that should have been, based on the Yankees’ defense in the half inning, accompanied by the theme music from the old "Benny Hill Show."
By the and of the frame — which featured a drop by Aaron Judge, then playing centerfield, on a routine fly ball, a throwing error by shortstop Anthony Volpe and Cole’s failure to cover first on a ground ball — the Dodgers had tied the score at 5-5. They were suddenly en route to a 7-6 victory that allowed them to celebrate their championship on the Stadium infield.
“I think falling short in the World Series will stay with me until I die,” a somber Judge said that night in the silence of the home clubhouse.
The stakes, of course, won’t be so dire Friday night.
Still, the three-game series is intriguing for many reasons, not the least of which is it’s Yankees-Dodgers, a matchup that moves the needle for even the most casual of baseball fans.
And though there’s miles to go between now and the postseason, it’s not a stretch to envision the two clubs getting together again in October for what would be a true rematch of the 2024 series, one that started with the Yankees getting Kirk Gibson’d in Game 1 by Freddie Freeman and Bill Buckner-ing themselves in Game 5.
The Dodgers, after somewhat of a slow start to the season — slow given their expectations as back-to-back champions with what, entering the year, was considered a better overall roster than either of the title teams — will bring the sport’s best record (61-36) into the weekend.
And the game’s biggest star, two-way phenom and annual NL MVP shoo-in Shohei Ohtani, is expected to be back as the Dodgers' designated hitter.
"He's going to be in the lineup," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before managing the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Ohtani, hitting .293 with 22 homers and 58 RBIs while going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and striking out 95 in 85 1/3 innings in 14 starts, was scratched from his scheduled start from the mound last Friday because of inflammation in his knee.
In saying Ohtani would hit this weekend, Roberts wasn’t as clear whether the four-time MVP would pitch for the first time since July 3.
"We haven't decided that yet," Roberts said.
Needless to say, whether Ohtani pitches or not, the Yankees will have their hands full.
The Yankees skidded into the All-Star break on a 9-15 skid, though they did win their final four games to up their overall record to 54-42. That placed them three games behind the AL East-leading Rays (who also have the best overall record in the AL).
The Dodgers are a tall task to start the second half, something that doesn’t end when the two-time defending champions leave town.
Among the narratives Yankees manager Aaron Boone has liked the least in recent years is the one stating his club struggles against the better teams on their schedule.
The Yankees this season have gone 15-15 against teams that, at the moment, are .500 or better and this weekend kicks off a stretch of seven straight series against such teams (after the Dodgers come the Pirates, Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals and Atlanta).
That stretch takes the Yankees through Aug. 9, meaning Judge, out since June 3 with a broken rib, isn’t likely to be back for any of those games as a best-case scenario for his return remains around mid-August (and even that isn’t assured).
And Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon and Max Fried — also currently on the IL with Judge — aren’t guaranteed to be back for many of those games, if any, either.
So, yes, the Dodgers are quite the test coming out of the break for the Yankees.
They’re far from the only one.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
