Baseball, MLB

Freddie Freeman Slams Yankees In Game 1 World Series Thriller

LOS ANGELES, CA — Both starting pitchers for Game 1 of this year’s World Series are from southern California — Gerrit Cole grew up in Newport Beach, CA, and played college baseball at UCLA. And Jack Flaherty from Burbank attended Harvard-Westlake, Studio City, CA, where his teammates were Max Fried of the Braves and Red Sox’s Lucas Giolito.

Harvard-Westlake in the building to support high school teammate Jack Flaherty! #WorldSeries https://t.co/d8PR93Z0Qz pic.twitter.com/8q3h6xPmnH

— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024

When asked why so many major league players are from California, Flaherty attributed it to the fact that they can play all year because of the weather. Giancarlo Stanton played at Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, CA. By the way, they all grew up very close to Dodger Stadium. So let’s get started.

After the Yankees left two on in the first, as if it was scripted for Hollywood, Shohei Ohtani hit the first pitch he saw high and deep to who else but Aaron Judge for the first Dodger out. And so it went until the Dodgers scored first after a triple by Kiké Hernández in the fifth inning, scoring on a sac fly to Juan Soto in left.

Slidin' into the lead 😎 #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/T9qF3RYb6t

— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024

Flaherty was not pitching lights out at this point but was getting outs, striking out Aaron Judge three times. But in the sixth inning, after striking out Judge for the third time with one runner on base, Giancarlo Stanton hit an 0-2 pitch to San Francisco to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

GIANCARLO STANTON
DOES IT AGAIN
FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES

ARE YOU KIDDING?! pic.twitter.com/sSVXe5QMW3

— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024

The Dodgers would not give in, though, as Ohtani, in the eighth inning, hit a ball off the top of the wall in right field for a double. The throw from Soto to Gleyber Torres was misplayed by Torres, and Ohtani ended up at third. He scored the tying run on a Mookie Betts sac fly to Judge in center field.

Mookie Betts and WE ARE TIED 😤 #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/LzAx5cme5U

— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024

Then, in the top of the ninth inning, Torres, with two outs, hit what looked to be a go-ahead run home run to left field, but a fan reached over the wall, and fan interference was called, leaving Torres at second base where he remained for the final out of that inning.

The Yankees went ahead in the top of the tenth inning because of Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled, stole second base and third, and came home with the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice. The bottom of the tenth inning became what will be looked back on for years as a classic ending. The bottom of the Dodgers lineup did what was needed by getting two on base with one out, allowing Ohtani to come to bat with the tying run at second and only one out.

Nestor Cortes and the Yankees opened up the bottom of the 10th inning with an intentional walk on Mookie Betts in Game 1 of the World Series – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

Yankee manager Aaron Boone then brought in Nestor Cortes to pitch to Ohtani. He got him to foul out on a spectacular catch by Alex Verdugo. Then Boone decided to intentionally walk Mookie Betts, loading the bases with two outs to pitch to Freddie Freeman.

Ok, the Yankees win, right? Nope. On the first pitch he sees from Cortes, Freeman planted it 409 feet into the right field pavilion for a walk-off grand-slam home run, to give LA the 6-3 win and put the Dodgers up in 1-0 in the best of seven series. WOW!