Walker Buehler of old helps Dodgers to 3-0 World Series lead

NEW YORK -- Walker Buehler had spent all year wondering if he'd ever recapture who he was, when his fastball was overpowering and his confidence was unrivaled. By the time he took the mound for Game 3 of the World Series, he had evolved from searching to accepting to surviving over these past six months. If he was going to give his Los Angeles Dodgers a chance in the biggest of games, Buehler thought, he'd basically have to reinvent himself every time he toed the rubber in October.

And then, somehow, in what might be his last game as a Dodger, the old Buehler showed up.

In front of a hostile Yankee Stadium crowd and against a desperate-yet-overpowering New York Yankees lineup, Buehler cruised through five scoreless innings, riding a suddenly lively fastball and setting the tone in a backbreaking 4-2 victory on Monday night. The Dodgers have now taken a commanding 3-0 lead in this World Series, sitting just one win away from their first title in four years and their first full-season championship since 1988. Buehler's best self showed up just in time to put them there.

"There's a lot of questions about him," Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said. "But when those lights turn on, this is the real Walker Buehler."

Freddie Freeman, looking healthier than he has all month, gave the Dodgers an immediate two-run lead with a first-inning homer, his third in a stretch of six at-bats. Betts continued his stirring October, working a nine-pitch at-bat to drive in a run in the top of the third and making a sprawling catch in the bottom of the fourth. As a whole, the Dodgers continued to be sound on defense and stingy on offense.

But it was Buehler who set the tone, allowing just four baserunners -- two via hit, two via walk -- and striking out five. It was surprising, but it also felt familiar. Buehler previously pitched seven scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series and six innings of one-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the 2020 World Series. His 0.50 ERA is the sixth lowest for a pitcher's first three World Series starts since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. It might not be a coincidence.

"I think, as kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenaline and stuff to really get me going mentally," Buehler said. "I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I'm excited to pitch every single game I've ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs.

"At least long term for me, to get through the playoffs in the way that I have, it's really encouraging for me personally because I know it's in there and I've just got to unlock it a little bit. But that feeling of there's an organization relying on me today to win a playoff game -- I think it's the weight that I like feeling and gets me in a certain place mentally that it's kind of hard to replicate."

Buehler, a free agent at season's end, generated six swing-and-misses on his fastball, his most since 2021. That year, Buehler finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting, going 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA. He was 27 and looked like one of the game's best pitchers. Then he struggled through the first 2 months of 2022 and underwent a second Tommy John surgery that didn't place him back atop a major league mound until May of this season.

Buehler posted a 5.84 ERA in his first eight regular-season starts and a 4.93 ERA over his last eight regular-season starts. In between, he landed on the IL with a hip injury and went on hiatus to a private performance facility in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in hopes of rediscovering himself.

Buehler's inclusion on the Dodgers' postseason rotation was a product of the injuries that prevented the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone from contributing. But October has brought out something different in him. It began in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, during which Buehler gave up six runs in a second inning that saw the Dodgers' defense make a multitude of mistakes but followed with three scoreless innings to save the bullpen. In Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, he rode a highly effective curveball to continually get out of jams and keep the New York Mets scoreless through four innings. In Game 3 of the World Series, that fastball was back. So was everything else.

"I thought his stuff was as good as it's been all year," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I thought the fastball had life. The cutter was good. The curveball was good. He pitched all quadrants and kept those guys honest, kept them at bay. There was no stress."

Buehler found comfort in pitching from the stretch during his last start from Citi Field. It's far more tiring than pitching from the windup because he has to exert more force to throw at his normal velocity, Buehler explained, but it keeps his mechanics tight. It also can be a tool to mess with opposing hitters' timing.

Buehler began Game 3 with a leadoff walk but followed by retiring Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in order. Shortly thereafter, he struck out four consecutive batters on four different pitches -- a fastball, a curveball, a sweeper and a sinker. The Yankees threatened with a Stanton double and an Anthony Volpe single in the fourth, but Teoscar Hernandez gunned Stanton down at home to end the inning. Buehler then cruised through the bottom of the order in the fifth, handing the game over to the Dodgers' high-leverage relievers.

Starting pitching was by far the Dodgers' biggest concern, both in this series and throughout the playoffs. And yet Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Buehler have combined to post a 1.62 ERA, stifling the Yankees' biggest advantage and putting L.A. one win away from its first title since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Buehler won his last two starts in those playoffs, blanking the Atlanta Braves with the Dodgers' season on the line in Game 6 of the NLCS and coming back to pitch six innings of one-run ball against the Rays the following round.

Four years later -- after a stretch that saw him go from dominant to bad, injured, recovering, ineffective and, lastly, uncertain -- that man reemerged at the most important time.

As Buehler said, "It makes the regular season worth it for me."