2024 World Series highlights: Dodgers top Yankees on Freddie Freeman's walk-off slam

DODGERS WIN WITH A THRILLING FINISH!

Check out Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam, then scroll down to see how the final inning played out.

Freddie Freeman crushes walk-off grand slam as Dodgers beat Yankees

TOP 10: YANKEES TAKE LEAD

Jazz Chisholm gave the Yankees the lead in the 10th. He singled, stole second (the Dodgers then intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo to keep the double play in order) then stole third.

Anthony Volpe then hit a hard grounder up the middle, and while Tommy Edman made a nice diving stop, he didn't grab it cleanly. The Dodgers got Rizzo at second for one out, but there was no play at first, and Chisholm scampered home for a 3-2 lead.

Anthony Volpe drives in the go-ahead run for Yankees

BOTTOM 10: AIN'T FREDDIE GRAND!

Jake Cousins came on for the Yankees to try to close things out. But after he coaxed a weak fly ball from Will Smith, he walked Gavin Lux, and Tommy Edman stroked an infield single.

That brought up Shohei Ohtani, and prompted Aaron Boone to pull Cousins in favor of Nestor Cortes. Cortes had not pitched since Sept. 18. The Yankees thought he was done for the season with an elbow injury, but he rushed back so he could pitch in the World Series. Cortes was willing to risk further injury, saying: "I guess the way I’ve thought about it is I could probably pitch this World Series and be good, and then come into spring training and blow out and obviously not expect it. So, I guess, World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

Cortes got Ohtani to pop it up, and Alex Verdugo went tumbling into the stands for a brilliant catch. 

The runners advanced because Verdugo left the field of play on his catch, so the Yankees intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load them up.

That brought up Freddie Freeman …

TOP 9: HOME RUN? OR NOT?

Deesha Thosar: Apparently the ninth inning of a tied 2-2 World Series game isn’t dramatic enough, so a Dodgers fan in left field decided to reach his glove over the wall for a fly ball off Gleyber Torres’ bat. It looked like Torres hit a home run, but the fan caught the ball, and after a review it was a deemed a ground-rule double because of fan interference. Absolutely kooky.

A fan interferes with a ball hit by Yankees' Gleyber Torres, play is ruled a double after review

BOTTOM 9: WE'RE GOING TO EXTRAS!

Luke Weaver pitched a spotless ninth — helped out by a nifty sliding catch by Alex Verdugo — and an already dramatic Game 1 got even better, with free baseball!

TOP 8: VESIA SHARP FOR L.A.

Alex Vesia came on in the eighth for the Dodgers and was dominant. The left-hander struck out Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Rizzo in a spotless inning. The Dodgers have six outs left to get something done.

BOTTOM 8: OHTANI COMES THIS CLOSE TO GOING YARD

Shohei Ohtani very nearly hit the ball out, but his screaming line drive caught the top of the wall. He advanced to second base with a double, then scampered on to third when the ball got away from Yankees infielders.

Mookie Betts then smashed a rocket to center field, driving Ohtani home with a sacrifice fly. And with one inning to go, they were tied at 2-2.

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani scores on a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts

TOP 7: GRATEROL MAKES AN APPEARANCE

The Dodgers turned to Brusdar Graterol in the seventh, and the big right-hander (6-foot-1, 265 pounds), who hadn't pitched since Sept. 24, was strong despite the layoff. Graterol allowed a two-out single to Aaron Judge, but whiffed Giancarlo Stanton to keep things close at 2-1.

BOTTOM 7: DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Deesha Thosar: The Dodgers were just getting something cooking against the Yankees when Kiké Hernández killed their momentum. Teoscar Hernández ended Gerrit Cole's night with a leadoff single in the seventh, then Clay Holmes entered the game and promptly hit Max Muncy with a sweeper. With no outs and two runners on, Kiké Hernández hit a sacrifice bunt, and in doing so, gave Holmes his first out of the inning. With the bottom of the lineup coming up, that was an odd spot to bunt, especially because Hernández had just ripped a triple in his previous at-bat. Then Will Smith popped out, and Gavin Lux grounded out to end the inning and the threat.

TOP 6: STANTON'S MOON SHOT

Deesha Thosar: It's time to put up four fingers when Giancarlo Stanton is at the plate. Flaherty didn't even give him anything in the strike zone in their third meeting of the night. The breaking ball he threw to Stanton wasn't even a bad pitch, but the Yankees slugger golfed it out to left field (at 116.6 mph per Statcast) and admired every second of it from the batter's box. Stanton has homered in each of his last four playoff games, and his six home runs this October are tied with himself (2020), Alex Rodriguez (2009) and Bernie Williams (1996) for the most by a Yankee in a single postseason in franchise history. No Yankee has ever hit seven home runs in a single postseason. Stanton has at least a dozen more chances to become the first.

Giancarlo Stanton BLASTS two-run homer to give Yankees 2-1 lead

BOTTOM 6: COLE ESCAPES TROUBLE

Would the Dodgers strike right back? It looked like it when Tommy Edman led off with a double, setting up L.A.'s top of the order in the process. But Gerrit Cole buckled down, coaxing grounders from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, and a deep-but-ultimately-harmless fly from Freddie Freeman to keep the Yankees on top.

TOP 5: FLAHERTY KEEPS CRUISING

Rowan Kavner: Not to be outdone by Gerrit Cole, Jack Flaherty is cruising through five. This looks a whole lot more like Game 1 against the Mets (seven scoreless) than his last time out in the NLCS (3 IP, 8 R, 4 BB 0 K). In that latter start, his fastball velocity was down to 91.4 mph, which he said is usually a timing issue. It was clear from the start when he fired a 96.4 mph fastball that he figured it out. The rest also appears to have served him well. We'll see how much longer manager Dave Roberts lets him go at 74 pitches.

BOTTOM 5: DODGERS STRIKE FIRST

Kiké Hernández went the other way with a Cole fastball, lacing the pitch into the right-field corner for a stand-up, one-out triple. He sprinted home on a medium-deep fly ball by Will Smith, just beating the throw from Juan Soto to make it a 1-0 Dodgers lead.

Deesha Thosar: Soto's adventures in right field have extended to the postseason. The liner off Hernandez's bat looked like it was always going to drop in the right-field corner, but in Soto's sprinted attempt to catch the ball rather than play it off, he let a double turn into a triple. The Dodgers, playing situational baseball, immediately capitalized with a sac fly to score the first run of the game. Soto at least made up for the blunder with a leadoff single in the next inning.

Dodgers score on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith

TOP 4: FLAHERTY HAS AN EASY INNING

Three up, three down, as Jack Flaherty cruises through the fourth, setting down Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisolm and Anthony Rizzo in order. Dave Roberts talked about Flaherty's stuff with Ken Rosenthal. 

BOTTOM 4: COLE CUTTING THEM DOWN

Freddie Freeman has such a good eye and such a good swing that he usually finds a way to get the sweet part of his bat on the ball. But Gerrit Cole brought his chainsaw in the fourth, breaking two of Freeman's bats on back-to-back pitches!

Rowan Kavner: So ... Gerrit Cole is locked in now. Since the Freeman first-inning triple, he has now retired 10 straight as is not allowing nearly as much hard contact. A lot of talk about two of the most patient and powerful lineups heading into this one, but it's a pitcher's duel through four.

Deesha Thosar: After hitting rockets that landed right into gloves along the warning track in the first inning, the Dodgers have since allowed Cole to settle in. The veteran, making his 21st career playoff start, started mixing in a knuckle curve this year, and it's clear he's feeling confident about that offspeed pitch in October. He deployed the curve against Shohei Ohtani to get him to whiff in the third. Cole is now through four scoreless frames, and letting him get into cruise control will be a headache for the Dodgers.

TOP 3: FLAHERTY KEEPS YANKEES OFF-BALANCE

Another leadoff single seemingly had Jack Flaherty in danger again, but a double-play followed by a strikeout of Aaron Judge took care of business — and had the celebrities in attendance happy.

BOTTOM 3: COLE IS CRUISING

Gavin Lux put a charge into an offering from Gerrit Colt, sending it to deep right-center, but Juan Soto tracked it down. A pop-up from Tommy Edman and a whiff from Shohei Ohtani finished things off. Threw three, Cole has only thrown 36 pitches.

TOP 2: EASY DOES IT FOR FLAHERTY

Anthony Rizzo managed a leadoff single against Jack Flaherty, but Flaherty shut things down from there. He struck out Anthony Volpe and induced a couple of ground balls to keep his sheet clean.

BOTTOM 2: DODGERS' AGGRESSION NOT PAYING OFF

Rowan Kavner: Both of these teams are among the most patient in baseball, but the Dodgers have taken a more aggressive approach against Cole, who had a much less stressful second inning. One result? Flaherty's already at 40 pitches; Cole's only at 23. Something to watch in a scoreless game.

TOP 1: FLAHERTY ESCAPES TROUBLE

Deesha Thosar: The Yankees had the chance to punish the Dodgers after Tommy Edman made a fielding error on a routine ground ball off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton. But, with two outs and runners on first and second, Jazz Chisholm saw just two pitches from Jack Flaherty before grounding out to end the inning. New York would've preferred for Chisholm to be more patient, at least. The Yankees wasted a precious opportunity in the top of the first inning. That can't happen.

BOTTOM 1: DODGERS ARE SEEING COLE WELL

Rowan Kavner: Shohei Ohtani hit the first pitch he saw from Gerrit Cole 373 feet, 106 mph off the bat ... for an out. Mookie Betts followed with a warning-track shot that was tracked down before Freddie Freeman, hobbled all postseason by a sprained ankle, stunningly legged out a triple on a misplay in left field by former Dodger Alex Verdugo. Cole, like Flaherty in the first inning, worked around the trouble. But the Dodgers are seeing him well early.

FERNANDO VALENZUELA'S FAMILY HONORED ON THE FIELD

Rowan Kavner: Fernando Valenzuela’s family was on the field as the teams lined up on the baseline pregame. Rather than a normal first pitch, Steve Yeager (1981 champion) and Orel Hershiser (1988 champion), both teammates of Fernando’s, placed a baseball on a No. 34 that was painted behind the mound in honor of the late pitcher who passed away Tuesday.

Here are some more pregame photos of Valenzuela honors from FOX Sports' Rowan Kavner:

BRAD PAISLEY PERFORMS NATIONAL ANTHEM

Brad Paisley performs the National Anthem ahead of Yankees vs. Dodgers Game 1 | MLB on FOX

THE FANS ARE OUT IN FORCE

Rowan Kavner: I know the Dodger Stadium capacity is 56,000, and maybe I’m misremembering things and this is all recency bias — and of course if you’re here two hours early you’re going to want to walk around. But I can’t remember the concourses here anywhere close to this chaotic for the 2017 or 2018 World Series. This pic attached is of the line just to get into one of the team stores. Not surprisingly, I've seen a lottttt of Yankees and Judge jerseys.

A DREAM FOR AN L.A. PITCHER

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole talked about his dream of playing for the Yankees and facing the Dodgers in the World Series.

Gerrit Cole's dream of playing for Yankees and facing Dodgers in the 2024 World Series

‘I’VE DREAMED ABOUT THIS MOMENT'

Aaron Judge knows that Yankees are held to a different standard than players who wear the uniforms of other franchises. On the eve of his first World Series, Judge talked about how he was ready for this moment — and his teammates expressed their belief in their captain.

Aaron Judge 'pretty excited' for first World Series; what are expectations for Yankees' star?

UNDER PRESSURE

David Ortiz, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez set up the big game, discussing, among other things, what kind of pressure each team might be feeling heading into the World Series. Both former Yankees agree that the pressure rests most heavily on New York.

Jeter also bemoaned the fact that for all of his postseason highlights, he never got to face the Dodgers in the Fall Classic. 

Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series Preview: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz

HONORING FERNANDO

The flags at Dodger Stadium were at half-mast on Friday in honor of Fernando Valenzuela, who died earlier in the week at the age of 63. We looked back on his lasting legacy. Scroll lower for more photos from the stadium.

Dodgers fans commemorate the late Fernando Valenzuela ahead of World Series

This World Series is an enormous matchup for several reasons.

This will be the 12th World Series showdown between two of the sport's most well-known teams, but the first in 43 years. The rivalry dates to 1941, when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and Joe DiMaggio's Yankees were seeking their fifth title in six years.

This figures to be the first World Series featuring five MVPs: the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and the Yankees' Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. There hasn't been a Fall Classic with four MVPs since 1971.

Ohtani and Judge are the likely MVPs this year, marking the first Series to feature both since San Francisco's Buster Posey and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera in 2012. This will be the first Series with a pair of 50-home run hitters in Judge (58) and Ohtani (54).

In an age of expanding playoffs, this is just the fifth World Series since the Wild Card Era started in 1995 involving the teams with the best records in each league.

Here are some of the top things to know ahead of Game 1:

— Dodger Stadium has been awash in memorials and tributes to legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died this week. You can read more about it here. FOX Sports writer Rowan Kavner has also been on the scene taking photos. Here are some of them:

— World Series predictions: Our experts debate who will win the series, who will be MVP, and more. Also, check out our World Series breakdown by the numbers.

— The Shohei Ohtani-Aaron Judge rivalry will culminate in historic World Series meeting: These stars have been competing for the same prizes for years. Now they'll square off for baseball's crown jewel, writes Rowan Kavner.

— Juan Soto's year with the Yankees has been all love, but his free agency will be all business. Deesha Thosar has the story.

— X-Factors galore: This series is loaded with stars, but there are plenty of potential sneaky heroes, too. Check out X-Factors to watch out for: Yankees | Dodgers.

— We rank the 24 best players in the World Series right here.

— Who would make the all-time lineups for these two teams? With so many stars to choose from, we had our FOX Sports research team break it down.

2024 World Series: Yankees vs. Dodgers preview