LOS ANGELES — The first two games of a highly anticipated series featured the Dodgers, then the Yankees, flexing their offensive muscles.
Sunday’s rubber match was much more of a nail-biter, following a tense script befitting the Hollywood stage.
But on a day they were without Aaron Judge, the Yankees scratched across just enough offense to make sure Domingo German’s gem did not go to waste — and then added some thump for a little breathing room in the ninth — pulling out a 4-1 win to claim the series at Dodger Stadium.
After scoring all 10 of their runs on seven home runs through the first two games of the series, the Yankees turned to some small-ball to push across their first two runs on Sunday.
With a runner on third and one out in each of the seventh and eighth innings, the Yankees used the contact play and a pair of weak enough groundouts to score both of their runs.
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In the seventh, it was a 68.9 mph broken-bat grounder to shortstop by Kyle Higashioka that scored Jake Bauers from third for the 1-0 lead.
Then in the eighth, after a rocket double from Giancarlo Stanton put runners on second and third, it was a 60.2 mph chopper to second base by Oswaldo Cabrera that scored Anthony Rizzo from third to put the Yankees back on top 2-1.
In between, German had been one strike away from completing seven shutout innings and protecting the 1-0 lead.
But he left an 0-2 curveball over the plate and J.D. Martinez made him pay for it, crushing a solo home run to left field that tied the game.
Clay Holmes relieved German and combined with Wandy Peralta to send the game to the ninth with the Yankees clinging to the 2-1 lead.
A scuffling Anthony Volpe then delivered a clutch two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth for some much-needed insurance.
Peralta then shut it down in the bottom of the inning — helping himself by picking off Will Smith at first after his leadoff walk — to secure the series victory and finish a 4-2 West Coast trip in style.
Martinez’s seventh-inning blast spoiled an otherwise strong night for German, who was sharp across 6 ²/₃ innings.
The right-hander came out attacking the strike zone, with each of his first 11 pitches of the game going for strikes, setting the tone for his outing.
German ended up throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of 25 batters and working ahead for most of the night.
The Yankees had scratched out just one hit against hard-throwing right-hander Bobby Miller across the rookie’s six shutout innings.
He walked two (both in the first inning) and allowed another base runner on an error, but struck out seven. The only hit he gave up was Volpe’s single with two outs in the fifth inning.