LOS ANGELES — The baseball disappeared into the jet-black sky, solely resurfacing because the lights of Dodger Stadium illuminated its descent. There have been days this month when Freddie Freeman seemed like he may barely stroll. After his closing swing in a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Sport 1 of the World Collection, he solely needed to trot. Freeman, the hobbled first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, discovered a approach to match Kirk Gibson in additional than his gait. He swatted a Tenth-inning walk-off grand slam on Friday night time, a slight enchancment on Gibson’s legendary walk-off in Sport 1 of the 1988 World Collection.
It was a preposterous ending to a sport stuffed with stars and streaked with stress. After the Yankees scratched collectively a run within the prime of the Tenth, the Dodgers staged an epic comeback. With two outs, Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone opted to stroll the bases loaded and allow left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes to face Freeman. Cortes fired a first-pitch fastball. Freeman swung his method into baseball historical past.
After spraining his ankle in late September, Freeman has spent this October enjoying by agony. He sat out the pennant-clinching victory over the New York Mets final week. He hoped the four-day layoff earlier than Sport 1 of the Fall Traditional would assist his restoration. He can’t be displeased with the consequence.
It was a raucous ending for the followers at Dodger Stadium. It was additionally a potential harbinger of how a lot drama awaits on this collection.
FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/5MIY5CaX6a
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 26, 2024
Earlier than the late-night decision, Yankees starter Gerrit Cole restricted the Dodgers to 4 hits in six innings. Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty stored the Yankees off the board till Giancarlo Stanton hit a monstrous, two-run homer within the sixth. The sport approached traditional territory when Shohei Ohtani smashed a double within the eighth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts. 9 innings was not sufficient to determine Sport 1.
For the twelfth time, the Dodgers and the Yankees met on this stage. Because it did in all these conferences from the Forties to the Eighties, the Collection pitted among the sport’s largest stars. Ohtani and Betts for Los Angeles. Aaron Choose and Juan Soto for New York. Goliath versus Goliath. Two of essentially the most affected person, taxing, damaging lineups within the sport, dealing with a pair of pitching staffs run ragged alongside the lengthy street to the Fall Traditional. The baseball was anticipated to fly.
The primary assembly didn’t precisely match expectations. However it didn’t disappoint.
The pregame festivities stirred up echoes. The Dodgers staged a collection of tributes to Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican southpaw who captivated the baseball world upon his debut as a starter in 1981 and cast an indelible connection between the crew and the town’s Latino group. Valenzuela died earlier this week. Followers festooned jerseys, flowers and sombreros to the ballpark signage alongside Vin Scully Avenue in reminiscence of “El Toro.” His No. 34 was painted on the slope behind the pitcher’s mound.
The season of “Fernandomania” coincided with the final time the Dodgers and Yankees met within the World Collection. This matchup marked a rematch 43 years within the making. Flaherty, a Los Angeles native, wore a Valenzuela jersey on his approach to the stadium. He may solely hope to copy Valenzuela’s complete-game victory in Sport 3 again in 1981. His counterpart, Cole, grew up in close by Orange County, cheering for the Yankees on the opposite facet of the nation. He ultimately joined them, after the 2019 season, on a $324 million contract that set a file for free-agent outlay for a pitcher.
The 2 pitchers traded zeroes by the primary 4 innings. Flaherty extricated himself from a first-inning jam after a stroll by Soto and an error by NLCS MVP Tommy Edman. Cole stranded first baseman Freddie Freeman after an unlikely two-out triple. Sickly and ineffective throughout a Sport 5 pounding by the Mets final week, Flaherty fired mid-90s fastballs to subdue the Yankees. Liable to hits and unable to complete at-bats in his final outing towards Cleveland, Cole struck out three batters by three innings. He completed the third by fanning Ohtani with a curveball on the shins.
Cole bullied the Dodgers together with his fastball. He flooded the strike zone with the pitch however largely generated delicate contact. Within the fourth inning, he shattered Freeman’s bat twice, first with a cutter after which with a 98.4 mph heater. Flaherty supplied a rejoinder within the fifth. He used his curveball to strike out Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe and catcher Austin Wells. After a two-out single by outfielder Alex Verdugo, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy corralled an awkwardly positioned grounder from Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres to finish the inning.
The heater received Cole into bother within the backside of the fifth. He challenged heart fielder Kiké Hernández with a 97-mph four-seamer. Hernández stung the pitch down the right-field line, the place Soto’s lunge got here up empty. Hernández scampered to 3rd with solely the second hit of the night for Los Angeles. He scored on a sacrifice fly to proper from catcher Will Smith. Hernández swam throughout the plate simply forward of a throw from Soto.
The sixth inning despatched Flaherty into the deep water: A 3rd time dealing with the trio of Soto, Choose and Stanton. Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts felt uncomfortable about exposing his greatest relievers too typically towards one of the best hitters of the Yankees. So it was as much as Flaherty.
Soto sparked the scoring. He smacked a slider into heart for a leadoff single. After Flaherty struck out Choose for the third time, he took on Stanton. Stanton can lull pitchers right into a false sense of consolation. He comes by this the laborious method: He swings and misses typically. Flaherty began the at-bat with a slider close to the dust and a curveball effectively beneath the zone. Stanton whiffed on each. He didn’t whiff on the fourth pitch, a curveball that dipped low sufficient to doubtless be referred to as a ball however excessive sufficient to benefit a response from Stanton.
Stanton despatched the baseball hovering towards the left-field fence. The exit velocity was measured at 116.6 mph, a seismic blast that put the Yankees forward. He carried his bat a couple of steps down the road earlier than flinging it towards his dugout. The lumber landed on the World Collection emblem.
GIANCARLO STANTON
DOES IT AGAIN
FOUR STRAIGHT GAMESARE YOU KIDDING?! pic.twitter.com/sSVXe5QMW3
— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024
The Dodgers utilized stress in response, however didn’t even the rating till the eighth. A leadoff double within the sixth went nowhere. Placing the primary two batters aboard within the seventh netted nothing.
Within the eighth, although, Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone permitted right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle to face Ohtani. Kahnle virtually solely throws changeups, a pitch designed to quiet left-handed hitters. Ohtani, after all, is just not like virtually all different left-handed hitters. He walloped a changeup off the right-field fence and took third on an errant choose try by second baseman Gleyber Torres. Betts tied the sport with a sacrifice fly.
The highest of the ninth proved harrowing for the Dodgers. Torres launched a 99.2 mph fastball from reliever Michael Kopech towards the center-field fence. A fan clad in Dodger blue reached over and grabbed the baseball, pulling it over the fence. The umpires signaled interference because the fan packed his gear to exit the premises. Torres settled at second base. Roberts opted to deliberately stroll Soto and let new reliever Blake Treinen face Choose, the presumptive American League MVP. Treinen made fast work of his embellished opponent, getting Choose to hit a innocent popup above the infield.
(Photograph of Freddie Freeman after his game-winning homer: Harry How / Getty Photos)
