Can Los Angeles make it two in a row?
Well, last night’s Game One of the World Series was exciting.
Freddie Freeman, who came back way earlier than expected from a sprained ankle suffered at the end of the regular season to be in the lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS, has not had a good postseason. He sat in Game 4 in the NLDS and in Game 4 and Game 6 of the NLCS. He came into the World Series 1 for 15 in his last 15 plate appearances.
And he was at the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning, with Los Angeles down 3-2, bases loaded, two outs, as the final hope for the Dodgers last night. Nestor Cortes, no doubt expecting the struggling Freeman to try to work the count given that a walk would tie the game, started him off with a fastball middle-in.
And Freeman crushed it, for a no doubt walk off grand slam.
And it occurs to me…this is the second straight year that Game One of the World Series ended on a walk off home run. Here’s the one from 2023, in case you want to see it:
Anyway…
Game 2 is a 7:08 p.m. Central start on Fox. Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers, though he is expected to be more of an opener than a starter, while Carlos Rodon goes for the Yankees. The Dodgers are -140 favorites.