The baseball world is still processing the wild ending to Game 1 of the 2024 World Series on Friday. Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off Grand Slam in the 10th inning to defeat the New York Yankees. Before the home run, Yankees manager Aaron Boone made an interesting decision: he called for Nestor Cortes out of the bullpen.
Cortes has experience as a reliever in his career. However, he has served as a starting pitcher since 2021. In fact, he has exactly one relief appearance since the 2021 MLB season. Additionally, Cortes suffered an elbow injury back in mid-September, which caused him to miss a month of game action.
Boone had a straightforward explanation when asked about the decision on Friday night. Just liked the matchup. The reality is he has been throwing the ball really well the last few weeks as he’s gotten ready for this,” the Yankees manager said, via SNY. “I knew with one out there, it’d be tough to double up Shohei (Ohtani) if Tim Hill gets him on the ground. And with Mookie (Betts) behind him, it’s a tough matchup there. So I felt convicted with Nestor in that spot.”
Yankees drop Game 1 amid World Series return
Aaron Boone is leading the Yankees through their first World Series since 2009. And for a while, it seemed as if they would come out on top in Game 1. New York had leads of 2-1 and 3-2 late in this game. However, the Dodgers refused to go away on Friday night.
Boone’s decision to go with Nestor Cortes nearly worked, in fact. Cortes entered the game with one out in the 10th inning to face Shohei Ohtani. He was able to get Ohtani to foul out, though it required some extra effort from outfielder Alex Verdugo.
Related New York Yankees NewsArticle continues below
However, the catch was rendered irrelevant one pitch later. The Yankees intentionally walked Mookie Betts. And Freddie Freeman — who returned from an ankle injury on Friday — took the first pitch he saw over the right field wall. The Dodgers turned a 3-2 deficit with two outs into a 6-3 win as Dodgers Stadium erupted.
It’s a crushing loss for the Yankees, but this series is not over. New York can get back into this series on Saturday night as the teams return to the diamond for Game 2. A loss would certainly put the Yankees in a bad spot, as they’d have to avoid losing two games with the World Series on the line once the series shifts to The Bronx for Games 3, 4, and 5.