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The Yankees watch as the Dodgers escape in a classic World Series Game 1

Posted on by Vanessa
The Yankees watch as the Dodgers escape in a classic World Series Game 1

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LOS ANGELES — Every strange turn of this World Series opener led to Freddie Freeman having a Kirk Gibson-esque moment at Dodger Stadium.

Freeman, hobbled by a tender right ankle, turned a one-run Yankees lead into a 6-3 Dodgers victory with his two-out grand slam off Nestor Cortes – instantly clinching Friday night's 10-inning Game 1 became an autumn classic.

That's the Hollywood version.

Back on Broadway, they'll remember this game for the missed chances, the occasional baserunning and the fielding errors that have ruined these Yankees before.

On this grandest of stages, the first Yankees-Dodgers World Series meeting in 43 years, the clubs appeared evenly matched — aside from the Yanks' poorly timed fundamental gaffes.

Juan Soto went down a bad route in the fifth, turning a double by Enrique Hernandez into a triple, leading to a Dodger run.

In the eighth, Shohei Ohtani nearly blasted a strike through the right field wall for a double – and then reached third base when Gleyber Torres casually batted away Soto's throw-in with his backhand.

After the game flew past Torres on an error, Mookie Betts' sac fly made it 2-2.

Jazz Chisholm stole two bases in the 10thTh To put runners on the corners, Anthony Rizzo stopped the run from first to second after Anthony Volpe hit a mishandled grounder – scoring the go-ahead run but putting a runner out of scoring position.

This time the home run couldn't save the Yankees

And the presumptive AL MVP is still looking for his A-Swing in October.

“All you can do is rinse it and get ready for the next one,” said Aaron Judge, who hit .167 (6-for-36) with 16 strikeouts this postseason.

“We had our chance there, back and forth the whole game,” the Yankees captain said. “We had our chances.”

We go into the 10th with a 3-2 deficitThthe left-handed Freeman and the Dodgers had the last chance.

Luke Weaver had already been called in for five outs, so Jake Cousins ​​started with the tenTh and got into unique trouble with a walk and a grounder that eluded Oswaldo Cabrera – now subbed in at second base – for a hit.

That put Shohei Ohtani ahead at first and second, and that's when Aaron Boone called out Nestor Cortes, who hadn't pitched since Sept. 18 because of left flexor strain.

“I just liked the match,” Boone said of choosing Cortes over lefty Tim Hill, who was warming up.

“I knew with one out there it would be hard to double Shohei with Tim Hill putting him on the floor, and then Mookie (Betts) behind him is a tough opponent.

“So I felt judged at that point with Nestor.”

Ohtani quickly became a 2-for-13 hitter against Cortes, who watched left fielder Alex Verdugo catch a foul ball from Ohtani over the sidewall.

Boone's next choice was to accompany Betts and set up the left-left matchup with Freeman, who hit the World Series' first game-winning grand slam to the right field pitches.

That's roughly the same spot where Gibson fired his shot in the 1988 World Series opener, turning a one-run deficit against Oakland into a 5-4 victory that sent Dodger Stadium delirious.

Those dismal 1988 Dodgers would win the series in five games against the powerful Athletics.

“We are the two best teams out there,” Verdugo said of this meeting between teams with the best records in their league. “We will go out (Sunday) with a lot of confidence and compete again.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole pitched well into the seventh inning, and Giancarlo Stanton maintained his modern-day Mr. October status with his sixth home run in 10 games this postseason.

That incredible two-run go-ahead finish ended starter Jack Flaherty's night in the sixth.

But the Yankees are still waiting for Judge, a .203 overall hitter (43-of-212) in 55 career postseason games with a whopping 85 strikeouts.

That includes three more in Game 1, all against Flaherty – swinging through third-strike sliders, curves and fastballs.

And manager Dave Roberts was bold enough to repeat a strategy he had used several times before, intentionally letting Juan Soto walk with his base open to pitch in front of Judge.

This came in the ninth, and Blake Treinen quickly got ahead of Judge with two call-strike sliders, eventually getting him to hit a 94 mph fastball.

“It’s part of their strategy,” Soto (1-3, two runs) said of the free pass. “In any case, I would love for Judge to be there in that moment every time.”

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