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Dodgers' Walker Buehler Makes History With Latest Scoreless World Series Outing

Walker Buehler joined Sandy Koufax and Madison Bumgarner in the history books on Monday night, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series.

Sam Connon

Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler (21) throws during the first inning in Game 3 of the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler (21) throws during the first inning in Game 3 of the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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The Los Angeles Dodgers may have needed to use six relievers to get to the finish line Monday night, but their starter still got credit for the win – and justifiably so.

Walker Buehler was dominant from the jump, shutting down the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series. After walking Gleyber Torres to open his outing, Buehler retired the next eight batters he faced.

Torres drew a second walk in the third inning, only for New York to come up empty again. Buehler ran into a bit more trouble in the fourth, giving up a double and a single, but an outfield assist from Teoscar Hernández ended the inning and saved a run.

The 30-year-old right-hander posted a 1-2-3 fifth, and he ultimately got the hook with a three-run cushion on his side. Buehler finished the evening having tossed 5.0 scoreless frames, striking out five while allowing just two hits and two walks.

Buehler has now gone at least 5.0 innings in each of his three World Series starts over the years, never allowing more than four baserunners. He previously did so in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series and Game 3 of the 2020 World Series.

According to OptaSTATS, Buehler is the only pitcher in MLB history ever to post three such starts in their World Series career.

Buehler's final line on Monday resulted in a Game Score of 66. That was slightly behind his World Series starts from 2018 and 2020, when he posted Game Scores of 80 and 71, respectively.

Underdog Fantasy's Justin Havens noted that Buehler is one of six pitchers in the Wild Card era to have three World Series starts with a Game Score of at least 66. The others are Madison Bumgarner, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Andy Pettitte and Josh Beckett.

Pettitte leads that group with five rings, followed by Bumgarner's three. The rest of the bunch have two rings each, which Buehler is shooting for this week.

Buehler now boasts a 0.50 ERA, 0.556 WHIP and 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings in his World Series career. Two of his three gems in the Fall Classic have been scoreless.

That makes Buehler one of two pitchers in Dodgers franchise history with multiple scoreless World Series starts, per MLB.com's Sarah Langs. The other is Sandy Koufax.

Buehler's dominant showing Monday night comes off the back of a spotty, injury-plagued 2024 campaign in which he went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and -1.3 WAR. He didn't look much better in the NLDS, either, giving up seven hits and six earned runs in Game 3 versus the San Diego Padres.

The two-time All-Star returned to form with 4.0 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLCS against the New York Mets, and he stayed hot in his return to the Big Apple on Monday.

Following their 4-2 win in Game 3, the Dodgers are on the brink of their second title in five years. Buehler is unlikely to take the mound again, unless the Yankees manage to force a Game 6.

Los Angeles can close it out Tuesday night, with Game 4 set to get going at 8:08 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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