The Yankees lost a heartbreaker in Game 1 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night and while the headlines will be about Freddie Freeman‘s walk-off grand slam, there were a couple of moments New York would want back on the defensive end.
Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto misplayed two balls hit to them that set the Dodgers up nicely. Verdugo’s came in the first inning when Freeman lined a sure-fire double down the left-field line. The ball caramed off the short wall in foul territory with Verdugo dashing for it. The left fielder slipped and allowed the ball to bounce away from him, awarding Freeman third base for a two-out triple. Freeman would not score in that inning.
In the fifth, Soto misjudged a liner by Kike Hernandez when he was running to his left, toward the foul wall in right field. The ball dropped but Soto’s momentum took him past from the ball and allowed Hernandez to reach third with one out. Hernandez would come around to score on a sac fly to give the Dodgers the 1-0 lead.
But the biggest defensive misplay came in the eighth.
With the Yankees up 2-1, Shohei Ohtani lined a double off the wall. Soto threw the ball back in toward Gleyber Torres at second base, but the infielder tried to catch it on a short hop but it kicked toward the pitcher’s mound. That allowed the fleet-footed Ohtani to scamper to third. He would score on a Mookie Betts sac fly to tie the game.
“Just a tough bounce,” Torres said after the game. “I tried to catch and got in between when Ohtani went to second. If I glove the ball, nothing happens. It’s part of the game, if I have an opportunity tomorrow I have to make it.”
“Once there’s no play you can retreat and give ground and get a long hop, he still got to a short hop, you just have to secure it there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the play.
The defensive miscues eventually forced extra inning but the Yankees still had a chance to take Game 1 but Freeman’s heroics put the Bombers in a 0-1 hole. Despite being on the losing end, the Yankees didn’t seem too bent out of shape about the loss. They’ve experienced this sort of gut punch already this postseason when they lost Game 3 to the Guardians in the ALCS, and they say they’ll be ready for Game 2 on Saturday night.
“Whatever happens tonight, we forget,” Torres said of the team’s ability to bounce back. “Tomorrow is another game. We have plenty of opportunities to do whatever we want to do. Just try to have the same game plan and attack early.”
“Win, lose or draw tomorrow we’ll be ready to roll,” Boone said. “We already talked about it. We’re good.”
