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Dodgers World Series Highlights: Will Smith, Mookie Betts & Freddie Freeman’s Walk-Off Grand Slam

Staff Writer
4 Min Read

Freddie Freeman became the latest Los Angeles Dodgers postseason hero a walk-off grand slam lifting the team to a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series.

The home run was Freeman’s second hit of the game, as he had a two-out triple to left field in the first inning. That extra-base hit was Freeman’s first since spraining his right ankle on Sept. 26.

Prior to Freeman electrifying Dodger Stadium in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Dodgers were first to score on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

However, the Yankees immediately responded in the sixth on Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run homer in the sixth. That was one of a few struggle points for Jack Flaherty in his start.

The Dodgers continued to trail until the eighth inning, when Shohei Ohtani’s first hit of the World Series — a double — put the tying run in scoring position. Ohtani took third base when Gleyber Torres inexplicably didn’t cleanly field the throw into second.

Mookie Betts made the Yankees pay for their mistake as his line drive to deep center field amounted to a sacrifice fly.

New York broke the tie in the 10th inning behind Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single and speed leading to a pair of stolen bases. Chisholm then scampered home on a grounder to second base that Tommy Edman made a diving stop on but struggled to get out of his glove.

With two outs and first base open, the Yankees elected to intentionally walk Betts so that Nestor Cortes could face Freeman in a left-on-left situation. The appearance was Cortes’ first since Sept. 18.

Cortes’ first pitch was sent sailing into the right field pavilion, setting off a raucous celebration.

Freddie Freeman makes World Series history

Freeman’s walk-off grand slam is the first that has ever been hit in World Series history. It was the first Dodgers’ walk-off home run in the World Series since Kirk Gibson in 1988.

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