Baseball: Yankees keep World Series hopes alive

New York native Anthony Volpe smashed a grand slam to keep the Yankees' World Series hopes alive in game four as the Bronx Bombers bludgeoned the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4.

The 23-year-old shortstop grew up idolising the Yankees and was the hero New York needed in front of a sold-out home crowd, blasting a home run 390 feet (about 120m) to centre field in the third inning and running home again in the eighth.

Outfielder Alex Verdugo added an RBI (Runs Batted In) and catcher Austin Wells recorded a solo home run, while second baseman Gleyber Torres got a three-run homer. Slugger Aaron Judge finally came alive after a dismal series run with an RBI.

With the Dodgers' advantage in the series narrowed to 3-1, the teams play once more in New York for game five on Thursday.

No team has ever recovered from 0-3 down in the World Series and the Dodgers looked in control as Freddie Freeman smashed one over the right-field wall to take the 2-0 lead in the first inning, becoming the first man to hit a run in the first four games of the Fall Classic.

The evening took a bizarre turn when a fan grabbed Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts by the wrist and tried to wrest the ball from his mitt as the All-Star hopped up for a catch along the right field line.

Outfielder Alex Verdugo injected some life into the crowd as he batted in Volpe to trim the Dodgers' lead in the second inning, as the desperate New York fans let out a deafening roar.

With the bases loaded in the next inning, Volpe answered their prayers with a monster homer that soared over centre field.

The Dodgers clawed back some of the momentum in the fifth with catcher Will Smith's solo homer and an RBI from Freeman, but could not close the deficit.

Wells added the insurance run in the sixth, Volpe scored off a double from Verdugo, Torres added three more runs to the board and Judge sent right fielder Juan Soto home in a productive eighth inning.

-Reuters