Volpe’s World Series grand slam saves Yankees’ season in Game 4

NEW YORK − Anthony Volpe grew up in New Jersey, wanting to be like Derek Jeter, and was there as an 8-year-old kid throwing toilet paper in the crowd at the New York Yankees’ 2009 ticker-tape parade.

Well, the Yankees still have an awful long way to go before they even think about a World Series celebration, Volpe at least gave them life Tuesday night, hitting a grand slam that saved their season in the Yankees’ 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees still trail the Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the World Series. But, no team trailing 3-0 has even forced a Game 6.

Yet, they at least have a pulse and a glimmer of hope they can pull off a miracle.

“Hopefully we can go be this amazing story,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Game 3, “and shock the world.’’

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

It was Volpe who provided the first chapter with his grand slam in the fourth inning, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead, the Yankees’ first lead since Game 1 of the World Series. It was as if the home run finally allowed the Yankees to relax. Before they knew it, rookie catcher Austin Wells hit a solo homer in the sixth and Gleyber Torres broke it open with a three-run homer in the eighth.

But no hit was more important than Volpe’s slam, finally reminding the Yankees they still are the Bronx Bombers.

Volpe, who made a baserunning blunder in the third inning that could have cost the Yankees a run, stepped to the plate in the third inning with the Yankees in the process of blowing yet another golden opportunity to score. Anthony Rizzo popped up to shortstop Tommy Edman for the second out, and the Yankees were just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Volpe, who dreamed of moments like these idolizing Jeter, watched Dodger reliever Daniel Hudson start him off with a first-pitch 89-mph slider. Volpe sent it 390 feet away, landing into the first row of the left-center-field seats. The sellout crowd of 49,354 at Yankee Stadium erupted, the Yankees hugged one another in the dugout, and Volpe floated around the bases.

“This is why you play the game, for moments and games like this,’’ Volpe said.

And, of course, dreams like this.

“After the ALCS, my mom was trying to like pinch me and help me realize it,” Volpe said. “It’s been a wild ride up to this point.”

While Freddie Freeman once again homered for the Dodgers, setting a World Series record by homering in his sixth consecutive game dating back to 2021 when he was with Atlanta, it was Volpe who has provided the Yankees offense this night. He reached base three times Tuesday with a grand slam, double, walk and two stolen bases, and has a .407 on-base percentage.

“I think he’s grown a lot this postseason,’’ Boone said. “Not surprised by the mental toughness he’s shown. And hopefully this is also a little bit of springboard for him growing on the offensive side of the ball too.

“We’ve seen really consistent at-bats from him. I think that’s all part of the growing process. His defense has been there since Day One since he got to the big leagues. The offense, I feel like we’re going to look up in a couple of years and see a really, really strong offensive player.

“It doesn’t always happen in a meteoric rise for some people, but I feel like he’s moving the needle in a really good way, and I feel like this playoff is showing that a little bit.’’

The Yankees, who will start ace Gerrit Cole for Game 5 on Wednesday (8:08 p.m., ET FOX), believe that if he pitches another gem like Game 1 (6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run), they can get the Series back to Los Angeles where they’ll have Carlos Rodon going up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The way Boone figures it, they’ve got the makeup and character to at least provide a little suspense to this series.

“We’ve certainly faced our share of adversity this year,’’ Boone said, “and those guys have never flinched in good times, in bad times. This is my seventh year now, we’ve had a lot of what I would think good, strong, close clubhouses (but) this one takes the cake. These guys play for one another.

“It’s remarkable to see how close they are, how much they trust one another, how much they pull for one another. It served them well as we’ve gone through highs and lows of the season, and hopefully it will serve them the rest of this series.’’

While they painfully realize no team in World Series history has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit, as much as it pains them to say it, the Boston Red Sox are their role models, the only team in postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit when they came back to beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.

“We’ve got to pull some inspiration from somewhere,” Rizzo said. “It’s happened before.”

It’s the reason why Rizzo delivered a brief team speech before Game 3 to his teammates, telling them that he wasn’t ready for this season to end, saying it could be the last time they’re ever together.

Stealing the words of Kevin Millar of the ’04 Red Sox, “Don’t let us win tonight.’’

“We’ve got Gerrit Cole lurking,’’ Rizzo said. “We’ve got a pissed off Rodon for Game 6 if we can get out there. And Game 7 is always a crap shoot. There’s a documentary out right now on Game 7, right?’’

For at least a night, the dream lives on.

“I think we try to just remind ourselves that anything can happen,’’ Cole said. “We’ve been telling ourselves a lot …there’s a lot of baseball left.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.