LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 6-3 victory over the visiting New York Yankees on Friday to win Game 1 of the World Series.
Trailing 3-2 in the 10th, the Dodgers got a one-out walk from Gavin Lux, followed by an infield single from Tommy Edman off Jake Cousins (0-1). Both runners advanced on Shohei Ohtani’s foulout to left field. Mookie Betts was walked intentionally before Freeman launched a first-pitch fastball from Nestor Cortes into the seats in right field.
It was shades of Kirk Gibson’s game-winning home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series after he hobbled to the plate on a leg injury. Freeman, who hit his grand slam, has been dealing with a sprained right ankle in the playoffs.
Freeman joined Gibson and Joe Carter (1993 Toronto Blue Jays) as the only players to hit walk-off homers with their team trailing in a World Series game — though Freeman is the first to end a World Series game with a grand Slam.
The Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, stole second and third and scored on Anthony Volpe’s groundout in the top of the 10th inning off Blake Treinen (1-0) to give New York a brief 3-2 lead.
Giancarlo Stanton crushed a two-run home run in the sixth inning and right-hander Gerrit Cole gave up one run on four hits over six-plus innings for New York.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at Los Angeles between teams meeting in the World Series for the record 12th time and the first time since 1981.
Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty Flaherty were locked into a pitchers’ duel until the fifth, when Enrique Hernandez got the Dodgers started with a one-out triple into the right field corner. Will Smith followed with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees broke through against Flaherty in the sixth. Juan Soto led off with a single and Stanton hit a towering home run to left field for a 2-1 lead.
After the Dodgers failed to score in the sixth and seventh innings despite getting a runner to third base with less than two outs, the Dodgers tied it in the eighth. Ohtani doubled with one out against Tommy Kahnle and went to third when second baseman Gleyber Torres booted the throw back to the infield. Betts followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score 2-all.
With two outs in the ninth inning against the Dodgers’ Michael Kopech, Torres’ drive to the top of the wall in left that was ruled a double on fan interference. The Dodgers walked Soto before Treinen retired Judge on a popup.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media