NEW YORK – Okay, Dodger fan, calm down. There is no need to hyperventilate or look for whatever calms your nerves.

Still.

Did the momentum of the 120th World Series begin to shift Tuesday night? It’s too early to tell, but the bottom of the New York Yankees’ batting order showed signs of life, as did Aaron Judge. That It could change the series if it continues.

New York win 11-4 in Game 4 postponed the end of the baseball season for at least one more night. The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole will try to keep that life going in Game 5 on Wednesday night, and Jack Flaherty will try to put it out and bring a championship to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, we learned this: When the going gets tough, Yankees fans get weird.

Or, at least, the two fans who were sitting in the front row along the right field foul line and decided at the end of the first that baseball really should be a sport in which fans participate. Leadoff hitter Gleyber Torres sent a spinning fly ball down the right field line, and when Mookie Betts grabbed the fly ball, those two fans fought over it, one (in a Yankees No. 99 away jersey) trying to tear the ball off. of his glove and the other (wearing a Mariano Rivera home jersey) grabbing Betts’ wrist.

Yes, Torres was penalized due to fan interference. And yes, those fans were escorted out of the stadium. If there’s any justice, (a) they won’t be allowed back for a good, long time, and (b) at some point they’ll realize the utter stupidity of paying for whatever they used in those front row seats and , essentially throwing that money away. with such a foolish act.

“The fans got in the way and the umpires got it right,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward, but I suspect even he didn’t realize how much the fans, plural, interfered with Betts. The national television audience had a better view.

That and Freddie Freeman’s fourth home run in this series, a two-run shot in the first inning, were the highlights of the night for the Dodgers. Freeman gave Los Angeles a quick 2-0 lead by hitting another into the right field seats, and he’s not only on a four-game home run streak in this series, but six games in total, counting 2021 with Atlanta.

Turns out they’ll need more from Freddie because tonight’s attempt at a bullpen game failed when Daniel Hudson replaced rookie Ben Casparius in the third inning, after Casparius faltered (three walks and a double in two innings). but left with a 2-1 lead. Hudson hit a batter, gave up a single, walked another batter and gave up Andrew Volpe’s first postseason home run, a shot over the left field fence on the first pitch for a 5-2 lead for the Yankees.

“I had (Giancarlo) Stanton 1-2 and I just couldn’t take him out,” Roberts said. “Then (he) gets a fly ball (to Anthony Rizzo), and he’s one hit away from it and he leaves a slider next to Volpe’s arm. “That was the difference in that inning.”

Maybe there was another factor. Hudson launched in the seventh inning of Game 3 on Monday night and struck out Volpe, but the Yankees shortstop said he got information from that at-bat.

“I was looking for a fastball” rather than a slider, Volpe said, “but I saw him the night before and had a pretty good idea of ​​where he wanted the pitches to start.”

That goes back to the idea of ​​hitters becoming more familiar with relief pitchers over the course of a series. It’s something to keep in mind.

And what had we said about the lack of impressive presence of the bottom half of the Yankee order? Fuhged about that, as they say here. Volpe had two hits, walked one and scored three runs in addition to his four RBIs. Catcher Austin Wells, at No. 8, hit a double, a home run, a walk and scored two runs. Alex Verdugo had a single and two RBIs on fielder’s choice ground balls, the second when he hit one off Gavin Lux with the infield in and Volpe beat the throw anyway.

As for the other falling Yankee? Be very afraid. Judge was 1 for 16 in the series with seven strikeouts when he came to the plate in the eighth against Brent Honeywell Jr., choosing a 1-and-1 slider that didn’t slide far enough for a hard single to left field. If that mistake turns out to be what prompts him to continue the rest of this series, the Dodgers could be in trouble.

That said, the Yankees are now 8 for 32 with runners in scoring position, and four of those hits came on Tuesday night.

Game 4 demonstrated the risk of trying to put together a bullpen game. When it doesn’t work, it can get ugly. Hudson gave up the lead. Landon Knack worked four innings but gave up Wells’ home run in the sixth to make the score 6-4 after the Dodgers got within one run. Then things got out of hand with Torres’ three-run homer in the eighth against Honeywell.

Although the game was close until the bottom of the eighth, this seemed to be one of those games where Roberts felt it was important to marshal his resources. Hudson was the only type of leverage he used, and using Knack for four innings and Honeywell in the eighth ensured that everyone else was fresh for Game 5.

“It’s a challenge,” Roberts said. “I think you have to be sure you can score some runs (before going to the main guys). Certainly any player we use tonight wouldn’t have been able to pitch tomorrow. Landon really threw the ball very well. … Four innings is the most he’s pitched in a while. And when you get to the last half, it just doesn’t make sense to use one of your leverage guys.