LOS ANGELES — The only home runs Gerrit Cole watched fly out of Dodger Stadium on Saturday came from his teammates.
In fitting fashion, the Yankees were powered by a trio of California natives to even their series up against the Dodgers.
Jake Bauers crushed two home runs, Aaron Judge added a solo shot — plus another spectacular catch — and Cole returned to dominant form, sending the Yankees to a 6-3 win over the Dodgers.
Cole turned in one of his best outings since April, tossing six strong innings of one-run ball, though he left the game after a season-low 80 pitches because of cramping, according to the Fox broadcast.
That left manager Aaron Boone to call on left-hander Wandy Peralta to start the seventh inning with a 5-1 lead and a trio of lefty hitters due up. The Dodgers immediately took advantage.
They used three straight pinch-hitters to have right-handed hitters face Peralta, resulting in a single, a triple and a walk to get within 5-2.
Boone then turned to Michael King, who gave up an RBI single before retiring Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith in succession to escape the inning with the Yankees still up 5-3.
King then got some help from Judge in the eighth inning to keep the Dodgers at bay. After Max Muncy led off by reaching on a dropped third strike that got past Jose Trevino, J.D. Martinez roped a fly ball to deep right field.
Judge went running back at full speed and made the catch just before he slammed into the right-field fence.
His 6-foot-7, 282-pound frame hit the wall — right at the Yankees’ bullpen — with such force that the fence swung open and Judge nearly fell in. But he just took a step in to steady himself, with the ball secure in his glove.
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Trainers and Boone went out to check on Judge, but he remained in the game, with the fence possibly getting the worse end of the collision.
Despite the dramatic final few innings, the Yankees’ win set up a rubber-match showdown with the Dodgers on Sunday.
Across his first seven starts of the season, Cole posted a 1.35 ERA in 46 ²/₃ innings without allowing a home run. But over his previous five starts entering Saturday, Cole had recorded a 5.67 ERA with eight home runs allowed in 27 innings.
But the Dodgers never left the yard against Cole on Saturday. Instead, his fellow Newport Beach native Bauers belted a pair of two-run homers to give him a lead to work with.
Bauers’ first homer came in the second inning against Dodgers right-hander Michael Grove.
In front of Bauers, DJ LeMahieu roped a fly ball to the gap that center fielder James Outman overran on the bounce. The ball trickled towards the warning track, allowing LeMahieu to leg out a triple. Bauers came up next and, with the infield in, clobbered a slider 414 feet to right field for a two-run home run and a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers got a run back in the bottom of the inning in strange fashion. Cole got two quick outs and had an 0-2 count on Jason Heyward before spiking a slider that hit him on the front foot. David Peralta then blooped a fly ball down the left field line, which became the Bermuda Triangle as it fell between three fielders to pull the Dodgers within 2-1.
After Bauers added a two-run home run in the fourth inning, Judge homered in the sixth on a line-drive bullet that snuck over the left-field wall.
Oswaldo Cabrera, who flew out of Newark early Saturday morning to get to Dodger Stadium in time for the game, added a solo home run in the ninth for more breathing room.
