Freeman wins Game 1 with 1st walk-off slam in WS history

Freeman wins Game 1 with 1st walk-off slam in WS history

Freeman wins Game 1 with 1st walk-off slam in WS history

LOS ANGELES -- One of the most iconic moments in World Series history just got a new chapter.

Thirty-six years after Kirk Gibson’s famous Game 1 walk-off home run on an injured leg, Freddie Freeman stepped up in a similarly dramatic moment. Battling through a right ankle injury, Freeman found himself with the bases loaded in the 10th inning. With one powerful swing, he launched the ball into the right-field pavilion, clinching a 6-3 victory for the Dodgers in Game 1 with the first-ever walk-off grand slam in World Series history on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

World Series Game 2, presented by Capital One, is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FOX.

The anticipation for this showdown between the Dodgers and Yankees — the top seeds in both the National and American Leagues, meeting in the World Series for the first time in 43 years — was immense. Game 1 did not disappoint, and Freeman’s heroics set the tone for a series that is already shaping up to be unforgettable.

In best-of-seven postseason series, teams that win Game 1 have historically gone on to win the series 65% of the time, including 79% in the World Series since 1995. In the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have taken the series 67% of the time.

The Dodgers’ tribute to club legend Fernando Valenzuela, who passed away earlier this week, made the evening especially poignant. World Series MVPs Steve Yeager (1981) and Orel Hershiser (1988) placed a ball on the mound before the first pitch, beneath a painted No. 34 in his memory. Dodgers players also wore jersey patches honoring Valenzuela, who once inspired “Fernandomania” in Los Angeles.

Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty paid his own tribute by arriving in a Valenzuela jersey and delivering a strong performance, easing concerns about his velocity dip in the NLCS. Flaherty’s duel with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole gave fans a rare October pitching battle in a bullpen-heavy postseason.

The Yankees cracked first. In the fifth inning, Kiké Hernández sent a fly ball toward right field, where Juan Soto misplayed it, allowing Hernández to reach third base with the Dodgers' second triple of the game. 

The Yankees responded in the sixth inning. With Soto on base and one out, Giancarlo Stanton, riding a hot streak with five consecutive home runs, launched a 412-foot blast into the left-field seats. The 116.6 mph homer — the hardest-hit ball in the World Series since Statcast tracking began in 2015 — gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead and knocked Flaherty out of the game. 

Cole kept the Dodgers at bay, working around a leadoff double by Tommy Edman in the sixth and escaping a jam in the seventh when Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle retired Will Smith and Gavin Lux with runners on second and third. 

But in the eighth inning, another Yankees defensive miscue allowed the Dodgers to tie the game. Shohei Ohtani doubled off the right-center field wall, advancing to third on a botched throw by Soto that bounced off Gleyber Torres' glove. Mookie Betts drove Ohtani home with a sacrifice fly, knotting the score at 2 and setting the stage for Freeman’s historic 10th-inning heroics.