It was Yankees-Dodgers. It was Freddie Freeman vs. Nestor Cortes. It was bases loaded and two outs. It was the tenth inning in Recreation 1 of the World Collection. It was the slugger with a bum ankle in opposition to a lefty who hadn’t pitched in a month.
And it was first-pitch swinging. A heater that caught an excessive amount of of the plate. Freeman launched a walk-off grand slam into the right-field seats at Dodger Stadium, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The Dodgers captured Recreation 1, 6-3.
That got here after Yankees trade-deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm Jr. put them forward within the high of the tenth inning. He singled, stole second and third, then scored the go-ahead run off Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen. However Freeman and the Dodgers had a remaining reply.
Freeman’s swing ended a basic Recreation 1. Each beginning pitchers excelled. There have been large swings each methods. The Dodgers took a lead, the Yankees surged forward, then they went all sq. into extras.
The Dodgers struggled to get something going in opposition to Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, however three of their 4 hits went for additional bases. Within the fifth, Juan Soto’s awkward route in proper discipline turned a would-be double right into a triple for Enrique Hernández, who scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly.
Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty bounced again fantastically from a tough begin his final day out. He didn’t let Juan Soto or Aaron Decide beat him. However then Giancarlo Stanton did. Within the sixth, Flaherty spun an inside curveball beneath the zone, and Stanton smoked it over the left discipline wall for a go-ahead, two-run dwelling run. It was Stanton’s sixth homer this postseason. Crucially, the Yankees left the bases loaded that inning, with lefty Anthony Banda hanging out Alex Verdugo.
The Yankees had been completely positioned to shut out the sport, with Cole exiting after six-plus innings of one-run baseball and the Yankees bullpen totally rested. Ohtani disrupted these plans. He doubled excessive off the center-field wall off reliever Tommy Kahnle and took third when Soto’s throw short-hopped Gleyber Torres. One other misplay, one other run on a sacrifice fly.
In extras, Chisholm scampered dwelling as diving Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman bobbled Anthony Volpe’s grounder, which could have been an inning-ending double-play ball.
Nursing a 3-2 lead, the Yankees turned to reliever Jake Cousins. Gavin Lux walked with one out, and Tommy Edman singled on a grounder that glanced off second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera’s glove. Cortes entered to face Ohtani, who popped out to left on a superb catch from Verdugo that carried him into the stands. The Yankees deliberately walked Mookie Betts, organising the left-on-left matchup with Freeman.
The workforce that has gained Recreation 1 has gone on to win the World Collection 24 of the final 30 instances. With one mighty swing, Freeman put the Dodgers on the best aspect of that stat.
