In Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night, Dodger Stadium fell quiet only twice.
The first lull was rectified quickly, with the Dodgers turning a tied score in the third inning into a comfortable lead with back-to-back home runs from Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman.
The second silence, however, lasted much longer — serving as the only ominous moment at Chavez Ravine over two otherwise rollicking, victorious Fall Classic nights.
The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday, surviving a ninth-inning scare to take a commanding two-games-to-none lead in this best-of-seven World Series.
Read more: Plaschke: Ouch-tani! Shohei Ohtani’s injury places World Series win at risk
But in the process, they watched superstar designated hitter Shohei Ohtani suffer a painful-looking shoulder injury after he jammed his left arm on a slide in the bottom of the seventh inning on an unsuccessful stolen-base attempt.
While manager Dave Roberts said the team wouldn’t know the full extent of Ohtani’s injury until he underwent an MRI exam — which was expected to take place either Saturday night or on Sunday’s day off — the early signs suggested he had avoided a worst-case scenario.
According to Roberts, Ohtani suffered a shoulder subluxation, essentially a partial dislocation less severe than if his shoulder had fully popped out. In immediate postgame tests, Roberts said Ohtani’s shoulder strength and range of motion were good, leaving the team feeling “encouraged” about his status for the rest of this Series.
“Obviously I can’t speculate because we don’t [have] the scans yet,” Roberts said. “But after the range of motion, the strength test, I felt much better about it.”
Regardless of Ohtani’s status — he left the stadium shortly after the game without speaking to reporters — the Dodgers’ position in this World Series is nonetheless auspicious.
Of the 39 previous teams to win the first two games of a World Series on their home soil, 32 went on to win the whole thing.
And in a matchup that was expected to be relatively even, the Dodgers already have neutralized a few of the Yankees’ biggest strengths.
They…