Something happened on Friday night that has never happened before. For the first time ever, there was a walkoff grand slam in World Series history. It came off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. The Fountain Valley, California born Canadian citizen came up to the plate with the Dodgers trailing the New York Yankees 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning, and hit a 409 foot home run to right field off of Yankees Nestor Cortes Jr.
Taking a look back in the Dodgers’s 10th inning
Jake Cousins was the first Yankees pitcher who came on to the mound and attempted the save. However, he pitched to three Dodgers and only got one Yankee out. That was the leadoff hitter, Will Smith of Louisville, Kentucky, who flew out to right field. With Cousins on the mound, Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux of Kenosha, Wisconsin walked and Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman of San Diego, California reached base on an infield single.
The Yankees then made a pitching change as Cortes Jr. came into pitch for Cousins, with runners on first and second with one out. Also at the time of the pitching change, Chris Taylor of Virginia Beach, Virginia came into pinch run for Lux. That is when Shohei Ohtani of Oshu, Japan hit a fly ball to left field that was caught by Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo. The catch came in foul territory and Verdugo dove into the stands to make the catch. Due to the fact the catch was in the stands, the ball was considered dead at the time of the catch, and Taylor advanced to third and Edman advanced to second. Next up was Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts of Nashville, Tennessee, who intentionally walked. With Betts on first, Edman, the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player on second, and Taylor on third, Freeman’s grand slam came on the first pitch of his at bat in the first game of the 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium in a 6-3 Dodgers win.
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