Freeman connects AGAIN, tying two World Series records
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NEW YORK -- Freddie Freeman’s historic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 wasn’t the end of his World Series heroics. Only the beginning.
Freeman launched a solo home run in Game 2 as well, then in the first inning of Game 3 on Monday, he quieted a rowdy Yankee Stadium with a two-run blast into the right-field seats, sending the Dodgers to an early lead in their eventual 4-2 victory over the Yankees.
“Couldn’t ask for a better start in these three games,” Freeman said. “But we have one more to go.”
Offensively, Freeman has been the biggest driving force behind the Dodgers’ commanding 3-0 lead in the Series. He became only the third player in World Series history to homer in each of the first three games of the Series -- joining Hank Bauer of the Yankees in 1958 and Barry Bonds of the Giants in 2002.
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Dating back to his time in Atlanta, Freeman has now gone deep in five straight World Series games, tying George Springer, who did it with the Astros, for the all-time record. (No player has homered in every game of a World Series, and only Springer has done so in four straight in the same Fall Classic.)
Freeman is now hitting .333 with three homers, seven RBIs and a 1.635 OPS in the World Series. He’s doing so while playing on a sprained right ankle he sustained near the end of the regular season. Through the NLDS and NLCS, Freeman was in and out of the lineup, clearly hobbled by the injury.
“We went to Freddie several times and said, ‘We got you,’ during these last two series,” said third baseman Max Muncy. “This is Freddie saying, ‘I got you,’ this time. It’s been fun.”
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Freeman did foul a ball off that ankle on Monday night, though not quite in the same area. He said he has a bruise and would receive further treatment, but called it “OK.” He finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk.
“I guess I’m seeing the ball very well,” Freeman said. “Obviously not missing mistakes, hopefully we can keep it going. We have one more.”
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The Dodgers are on the precipice of a World Series title thanks in large part to Freeman. On Monday, two batters after Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff walk, Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt left a belt-high cutter over the inner third, and Freeman turned on it, sending it a Statcast-projected 355 feet into the right-field seats.
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“Obviously, we all know how great of a player Freddie Freeman is,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “He's getting off swings you're typically used to seeing Freddie get off, where maybe that wasn't happening in the previous rounds with the injury.”
It’s been quite a World Series for Freeman, who in Game 1 became the first player in Fall Classic history to hit a walk-off grand slam. That he did so while playing on a sprained right ankle called back images of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. (Only Freeman, Gibson and Toronto’s Joe Carter have ever hit a walk-off home run with their team trailing in the game at the time.)
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That was, rather famously, Gibson’s only at-bat of the series as he dealt with injuries. Freeman, on the other hand, might just be headed for a World Series MVP, bad ankle and all.
“For a guy like Freddie, who doesn’t really need anything more to cement his legacy,” Muncy said, “this has been a pretty special run.”
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