Blame Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone for Brutal World Series L to Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

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Freddie Freeman delivered one of the biggest hits in Los Angeles Dodgers history with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to kick off the 2024 World Series dramatically.

But the New York Yankees’ failures cast an equally large shadow.

Between another forgettable playoff performance from AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge and a brutal late-game decision from manager Aaron Boone, the story for the Yankees was a squandered opportunity to steal Game 1 at Dodger Stadium.

First things first, though, let’s give Freeman his props.

The 35-year-old suffered a severe ankle sprain on Sept. 26, and he has been visibly hobbled all postseason, spending three of the Dodgers’ first 11 playoff games watching from the bench.

He was 7-for-32 with zero extra-base hits and only one RBI in the NLDS and NLCS, but with a few extra days to rest before the start of the World Series, he looked to be moving significantly better when he ran out to greet his teammates during pregame introductions.

A few hours later, he hit the biggest home run of his life.

FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOXFREDDIE CALLS GAME!!!

DODGERS WIN ON A WALK OFF HOME RUN!!! pic.twitter.com/9vg2U2sl5T

The game-winning blast came on the first pitch he saw from Nestor Cortes, who had absolutely no business being in the game to begin with.

Boone Bungles Bullpen

That fatal decision falls squarely on the shoulders of Aaron Boone.

Let’s back up.

Cortes was inactive during the ALDS and ALCS, and for the final few weeks of the regular season after suffering a flexor strain on Sept. 18. After weighing the risk of further damaging his elbow and potentially needing Tommy John surgery, he decided to rush back for the Fall Classic.

“We have weighed in the consequences this can lead up to, but if I have a ring and then a year off of baseball, then so be it,” Cortes told reporters.

Surely he would be eased back into action with a clean inning and a low-leverage situation, right?

Nope.

With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees had Cortes and fellow lefty Tim Hill warming up in the bullpen, and Shohei Ohtani stepping into the batter’s box.

Hill had been used all postseason in exactly this sort of spot, posting a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of work over seven appearances and recording some huge outs against Cleveland in the ALCS.

Instead, Boone called for Cortes, who made only one relief appearance during the regular season and complained about it.

While Ohtani was just 2-for-12 lifetime against Cortes, the situation was bigger than just getting past him with only one out in the inning. Hill had a 62.3 percent groundball rate during the regular season and should have been the easy choice to try and induce a double play ball, even with Ohtani’s speed making that tough.

Ohtani flew out to left field on a spectacular play by Alex Verdugo for the second out before Mookie Betts was intentionally walked, and then Cortes’ return to the mound ended in disaster.

Jon Morosi @jonmorosiAaron Boone on going to Nestor Cortes Jr. in the 10th.

“Just liked the matchup. He’s been throwing the ball really well over the last few weeks as he’s gotten ready for this . . . I felt convicted with Nestor in that spot.”@MLBNetwork

It’s a decision that will be questioned at length over the next 24 hours.

In fact, the second-guessing started almost immediately on Friday evening, and quickly made its way across the sports landscape.

Awful Announcing @awfulannouncingRyan Ruocco: You think Bradley Beal was wondering why Nestor Cortes was in there and not Tim Hill?

Richard Jefferson: No, but you are as a Yankee guy. pic.twitter.com/fy1NMglawv

The dramatic narrative shift that came with one swing of the bat stole the spotlight from a handful of Yankees players, including Giancarlo Stanton who continued his red-hot postseason with a two-run home run in the sixth inning that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

The Dodgers tied it in the eighth on a sac fly from Betts, but the Yankees then took the lead again in the top of the 10th inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, stole second, stole third and then scored on a fielder’s choice when Anthony Volpe hit a groundball up the middle.

That all came after ace Gerrit Cole delivered six innings of four-hit, one-run ball, adding to his robust resume as one of the best postseason pitchers of this generation.

Boone had a quick hook after his ace gave up a leadoff single to Kiké Hernández to start the seventh inning. He was at just 88 pitches and had not had an inning of more than 15 pitches the entire night.

That created a ripple effect in the bullpen, with Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver all burned before extra innings, leaving Jake Cousins to try to nail down the save before the ill-fated Cortes decision was made.

Judge Comes Up Empty

Noticeably absent from that rundown of potential Yankees heroes: Aaron Judge

After striking out three times against Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, Judge had a golden opportunity to erase another forgettable night and shift all the talk of his postseason struggles once and for all when he stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs in the top of the ninth.

He took two sliders from Blake Treinen for strikes to fall behind 0-2, and three pitches later, he hit a harmless pop-up to shortstop for the third out of the inning.

Evil Empire @octoberstantonAaron Judge is seriously showing that he’s not built for the big moment. It’s so sad man. pic.twitter.com/8oQDQUWjoF

The same superstar who hit an absurd .336/.509/.711 over 177 plate appearances with runners in scoring position during the regular season is now 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in those clutch spots this postseason.

His playoff struggles run far deeper than just Friday’s performance:

2024: 46 PA, .167/.304/.361, 2 HR, 16 KCareer: 244 PA, .203/.309/.444, 15 HR, 82 KIs it time to consider a lineup change?

Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggested moving Judge down to at least the cleanup spot in the order following Friday’s game, but Boone balked at the idea of switching things up.

Regardless of where he is hitting in the lineup, the Yankees can’t win the World Series unless their MVP is pulling his weight.

It’s only one game in a best-of-seven series, but the Yankees have dug themselves a major hole from a momentum standpoint, and the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of their manager and the face of the franchise.

This has a chance to be a World Series for the ages after a Game 1 that more than lived up to the tremendous hype, but two of the most prominent figures in the Yankees clubhouse will have a lot to prove in the coming days.