By Signal Staff
This was one for the ages: A walk-off 10th-inning grand slam by Freddie Freeman led the L.A. Dodgers to a comeback 6-3 win in Game 1 of the World Series over the New York Yankees on Friday night at a packed Dodger Stadium.
“That’s a dream come true,” Freeman said in a televised interview, shortly after the home-run moment that’s destined to be replayed for years to come as it instantly joined Dodger lore.
It was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
Freeman’s game-winning at-bat, evoking memories of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off World Series homer 36 years earlier, came on a night when the Dodgers honored their history with a pregame ceremony – and the players wore uniform patches – in memory of beloved former pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died this week.
In extra innings, the Yankees, with two outs and a one-run lead, intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases. Nestor Cortes was on the mound for the Yankees.
The Dodgers’ website provided this account of the historic moment: “Thirty-six years after a gimpy Kirk Gibson limped to the plate to smack a Game 1 walk-off homer, Freddie Freeman came to bat with a badly injured right ankle, the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th and a chance to summon October magic of his own. With one, no-doubt swing, Freeman rocketed the ball into the right-field pavilion seats for the first-ever World Series walk-off grand slam that gave the Dodgers an epic 6-3 victory in a Game 1 thriller Friday night at Dodger Stadium.”
The highly anticipated matchup rekindles a historic Dodgers-Yankees rivalry, with the two teams meeting in the World Series for the first time in 43 years.
Game 2 of the World Series is set for 5:08 p.m. Saturday at Dodger Stadium and will be televised on FOX.