Dodgers ruin Yankees' lone World Series edge by rocking Carlos Rodón

Many fans believe baseball is really a game of pitching. If that were the case, the Los Angeles Dodgers would have their hands full against the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman comprise part of New York's fearsome rotation. But the Dodgers' even scarier offense got to the Yankees pitchers quickly in Game 2.

Rodón started the night with a clean inning. A Mookie Betts single resulted in the only baserunner of the frame. But the second inning didn't go so well for the lefty — NLCS MVP Tommy Edman opened the scoring with a leadoff blast to left field.

After a Juan Soto homer evened the score at one in the third inning, which woke up the rest of LA's offense. Rodón collected two early outs to begin the third frame, then Betts singled again. Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run home run to right-center field. He took his time watching the ball leave the yard, and Dodger Stadium erupted before his triumphant trot around the bases.

Dodgers' offense knocks three homers off Yankees' Carlos Rodón early in World Series Game 2

LA wasn't done letting Rodón have it. Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman crushed another homer to right-center field in the next at-bat to give the Dodgers an early 4-1 lead over the Yankees and their supposedly superior rotation.

Rodón finished the third frame, but allowed a double to Edman in the process. The Yankees turned to their bullpen after 3.1 innings against Los Angeles' relentless offense, which is exactly what the Dodgers needed.

Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler are the only three starters the Dodgers have available for the World Series. Cole, Rodón, Gil, Schmidt, Marcus Stroman and the recently returned Nestor Cortes give the Yankees a more complete pitching staff, but it hasn't mattered in the early games of the Fall Classic.

Bad pitching decisions and rough defense cost New York in Game 1, but Cole gave his squad a solid, one-run start to begin the series the Yankees' offense couldn't capitalize on. The Dodgers' top bats are inevitable, and they may have humbled New York's only advantage.