LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman lifted his bat to the sky and watched it fly. The Los Angeles Dodgers' hobbled first baseman, who has spent all month playing through a badly sprained right ankle, came up with the bases loaded, his team trailing by a run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, and delivered a walk-off grand slam, electrifying a sold-out Dodger Stadium and sending his team to an improbable 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
It marked the third walk-off homer in the World Series in franchise history, along with those by Max Muncy (Game 3 in 2018) and Kirk Gibson (Game 1 in 1988).
The Yankees had taken the lead in the previous half-inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr., 5-for-34 through his first nine postseason games, lined a one-out single to the right side off Blake Treinen, then stole second base and easily swiped third and came around to score on a groundout.
But the Dodgers threatened once again in the bottom half, putting runners on first and second with one out and Shohei Ohtani coming to bat.