Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Before Game 1 of the World Series, there was a lot of talk about how expensive the tickets to the games were. Ask the people now if they think they got their money’s worth. In one of the absolute best World Series games in recent memory, Freddie Freeman blasted a first-pitch grand slam to give the Dodgers a come-from-behind, extra-innings victory, beating the New York Yankees by a score of 6-3. Holy Cow.
Believe it or not, this started out as a pitchers’ duel between two local products. Orange County’s Gerrit Cole took the mound against the San Fernando Valley’s Jack Flaherty. And both of them delivered big time. Flaherty looked great, save for one pitch, breaking ball that Giancarlo Stanton obliterated for a two-run home run. That homer looked like it would be the difference for a good chunk of the game. The Dodgers did score a run on Kike Hernandez double in the bottom of the fifth that Will Smith was able to cash in with a sacrifice fly off Cole.
However, the Yanks answered right back with the Stanton homer in the top of the sixth that chased Flaherty from the game. Though he got a no-decision, Flaherty was spectacular in this one, landing pitch after pitch and getting beaucoup swing and miss from the Bombers. His line for a very good night: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. That version of Jack Flaherty is just the ticket to get the Dodgers over the finish line. He will probably be slated to start Game 5 in the Bronx. We look forward to seeing him build on this for what might be his final appearance in Dodger blue. Thattaway, Jack!
However, with the starters out, we went into a very frustrating portion of the game, where nobody seemed to be able to get a key hit for the Dodgers. The team had runners in scoring positon in the sixth and the seventh with less than two outs and came up empty each time.
But in the eighth, the Dodgers were finally able to plate the tying run, thanks to the top of the lineup. With one out, Shohei Ohtani ripped a screamer of a double off the right field wall, and was able to take third when Juan Soto‘s throw to the infield short-hopped Anthony Volpe at second, and Shohei alertly took third base. The next batter, Mookie Betts, drilled a ball to center field that Aaron Judge was able to flag down just short of the warning track, and Ohtani was able to easily scamper home.
In the ninth inning, Michael Kopech almost lost the whole thing when Gleyber Torres went deep to center, but a fan reached into the field of play to make a catch, giving him only a double due to fan interference. That brought Dave Roberts out of the dugout. First, he put up four fingers to walk Juan Soto, and then he made the call to the bullpen for Blake Treinen to come in for Aaron Judge. Judge, who has struggled in October, wasn’t able to come through. He popped up to Tommy Edman and the game went to the bottom of the ninth.
Yankees closer Luke Weaver was able to get a 1-2-3 ninth inning, and the game went into extras with the postseason rules in place (no runner on second). Blake Treinen, the hero of the ninth, was nearly the goat in the tenth. He got the first out on a great-looking strikeout of Giancarlo Stanton, but then gave up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. Chisholm was bound and determined to take advantage of Treinen’s deliberate delivery. He stole second, and then a couple of pitches later, stole third. With one out, Treinen got a double play ball off the bat of Anthony Volpe, but with the infield in, Tommy Edman wasn’t able to field it cleanly and only got a force at second. This allowed Chisholm to score a run without the ball ever leaving the infield. Things were starting to look grim for the Chavez Ravine faithful.
Now trailing 3-2, the Dodgers came up in the bottom of the tenth with one goal: somebody, anybody, get on base so that the great Shohei could get up to bat. With a one-out walk by Gavin Lux off new reliever Jake Cousins. Tommy Edman then hit a ground ball that glance off the glove of new second basemen Oswaldo Cabrera, and everybody was safe. With that, the great Shohei walked to the plate. But before he could swing, Aaron Boone went to his bullpen for a move that will be second-guessed aplenty in New York. Instead of choosing Tim Hill and his quirky delivery, Boone went with Nestor Cortes, the demoted started who has pitched in over a month due to injury. Cortes wouldn’t be in for long. On his first pitch, he got Ohtani to foul out to left field as Alex Verdugo made a circus catch at the wall, causing him to go spilling into the stands.
The Dodgers were down to their last out. Boone then made a very justifiable move. He walked Mookie Betts in favor of the lefty-lefty matchup against Freddie Freeman. It was a decision that Boone would regret almost immediately. Freeman got a down-and-in fastball from Cortes and absolutely crushed it. 409 feet later, the ball was among the paying customers in right field and Freeman circled the bases having just hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
If this is only Game One, we are in for an EPIC World Series. Fasten those seatbelts, it’s going to be quite a week!
On Saturday, the Dodgers will send Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound to try to take a 2-0 advantage in the series. It’s going to be Carlos Rodon who gets the nod for the Yanks, so it figures to be another great battle of quality starters. Game time will be 5:08 PDT. Let’s do this, Dodger fans. Pedal to the metal!
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