World Series Game 1: The Dodgers rally behind Freddie Freeman in clutch grand slam
by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers were confident that Freddie Freeman would come through for them. When he held his bat to the sky, his walk-off grand slam was the moment they were waiting for.
His teammates swarmed him at home plate. They embraced him as Dodger Stadium continued to ring with cheer. They showered him with jugs filled with water and ice.
While they celebrated their 6–3 victory of the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series, they were also celebrating the veteran who has fought many battles this season to be in the Fall Classic.
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“We’ve had to tell him, ‘Hey, we’ll pick you up right now,’” Max Muncy said of Freeman’s sprained ankle that has hindered him in the postseason. “It’s tough for a guy like him to accept that, but everyone in this clubhouse has been behind him the whole way.”
Freeman was 1-for-4 when he stepped into the batter’s box against Yankees reliever Nestor Cortes in the 10th with two outs. Gavin Lux worked a one-out walk. Tommy Edman singled.
After Shohei Ohtani flew out, the Yankees chose to intentionally walk Mookie Betts. Freeman — a three-time Silver Slugger — was the poison they picked.
They’ve seen it before: An MVP intentionally walked for another MVP to come up to the plate.
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“We (usually) say in the dugout, ‘That’s so disrespectful,’ just to get (them) fired up,” Edman said. “Mookie’s come through several times after Shohei has been intentionally walked, so when they intentionally walked Mookie, it was, ‘Alright, well we got another MVP coming up.”
There was no sense of hesitation when he connected on the 92.5 MPH fastball. His first homer in the Dodgers’ postseason run also made him the first player in Major League history to record a walk-off grand slam in the postseason.
“It’s kind of amazing,” Freeman said. “It’s been a lot these last few months. Been a grind, but things have been going so well at home. Max is doing great. Obviously, the ankle is the ankle. It’s a sprained ankle. It’s as good as it’s going to get.”
His sprained ankle has resulted in early mornings at the stadium to undergo treatment. It’s also been heavily taped to stabilize it when he’s playing. But the sprain forced him out of the lineup in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.
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But after six days of rest, Freeman’s condition improved enough to be back in the starting. lineup. His teammates picked him up while he was down and now, they’re rallying behind him as he picks them up in the scorecard.
“It means a lot,” Teoscar Hernández said. “Not just because he got the hit, but because he feels good again and at least he can walk normal again. Like I said, we fight for him. We gave him a chance to feel better so he can be with us and be in this series.”
Now the Dodgers have a 1–0 series lead.
“It gives us confidence,” Betts said. “Anytime you put №5 in the lineup, our lineup is going to be a lot better.”
World Series Game 1: Freddie Freeman picks up his teammates with a walk-off grand slam was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.