Beyond Teo’s massive series, the story of the weekend for the Dodgers was Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s terrific start Friday, in which he threw seven splendid, scoreless frames and showcased the highest velocity we’ve seen from him all season. Was it an accident that it came against the team that reportedly came closest to signing him, after the Dodgers? That’s for you to decide.
For the Yankees, Juan Soto’s elbow injury cast an unusual shadow over this premier showdown in the Bronx. The update from Aaron Boone on Friday was that imaging revealed inflammation in Soto’s elbow, which Boone deemed “good news” and which suggests that Soto might be back in the relative short term. But while Soto went through his usual pregame work ahead of each game this weekend and even looked to be holding a bat, ready to pinch-hit, on Friday, he did not appear in any of the three games.
That said, Soto’s absence indirectly inspired one of the best moments of the weekend for the Yankees. Down 3-2 in the sixth on Sunday, with runners on first and third and Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow having already struck out 10 on the evening, Trent Grisham — he of the .083 batting average entering the game — strolled to the plate. As Grisham settled into the box, chants of “WE WANT SOTO” rang out from a packed Yankee Stadium crowd eager to see a more dangerous hitter up with the chance to tie the game or take the lead.
