Dodgers on brink of World Series win after umpire halts Yankees rally with awful call

Through six innings of Game 3 of the World Series, the Dodgers were cruising. Walker Buehler, LA's starter for the night, had held the Yankees to just two hits and a walk through five. Their most unreliable starter in an already pretty questionable postseason rotation turned back into his old self exactly when the Dodgers needed him most.

Brusdar Graterol took over in the sixth, after Kiké Hernández had scored LA's fourth run of the night on an RBI single to follow a two-run homer from an otherworldly Freddie Freeman and an RBI single for Mookie Betts in the top of the third.

Graterol put away two batters but walked Juan Soto and gave up a single to Giancarlo Stanton, so the Dodgers swapped him out with Alex Vesia for a lefty-lefty matchup against Jazz Chisholm, who grounded out to end the inning and stop the Yankees' threat.

That 1/3 inning was all Vesia would get; he was replaced by Daniel Hudson in the seventh, and then the Dodgers got into some trouble. Anthony Volpe went down swinging, but Anthony Rizzo singled to put a man on. The Yankees made a change and pinch-hit Austin Wells for Jose Trevino; Wells was also called out on strikes (a borderline call, if you ask angry Yankees fans).

Dave Roberts still opted to go to the bullpen for another matchup — lefty Anthony Banda against lefty Alex Verdugo. The former No. 1 Dodgers prospect walked, putting a runner in scoring position for Gleyber Torres, one of the Yankees' hottest bats of the postseason.

Banda got him to a 2-2 count, and then threw a 96 MPH sinker that really didn't sink. It stayed above the zone, but apparently close enough to the top that home plate umpire Mark Carlson called it strike three to ring Torres up, and killing any momentum the Yankees were trying to capitalize on.

Dodgers take commanding 3-0 World Series lead over Yankees

With that strikeout on Torres, the Dodgers avoided a bases-loaded situation or two runners on with Juan Soto due up as the tying run. They couldn't have possibly dodged a bigger bullet.

The work that Freeman, Betts, and Hernández had done for the offense turned out to be all the Dodgers would need to put this one in the books for LA. The Yankees went down (almost) in order in the bottom of the eighth, with Aaron Judge continuing his hitless streak and accepting a free pass to first base instead.

Michael Kopech took over to close things out, and Verdugo put a momentary scare into the Dodgers with a two-run, two-out homer that turned the Yankees lineup over. Torres was back up as New York's last man, but he hit a 100 MPH fastball from Kopech on the ground. It was scooped up by Tommy Edman, flicked over to Freeman at first, and there went all of the Yankees' hopes (again).

The Dodgers are just one win away from their eighth World Series title. Although fans would love to see it end in LA, this team picking up the first Fall Classic sweep since 2012 would be nothing to complain about.