World Series: Gerrit Cole of the Yankees was their player of the game in the loss

Game 1 of the World Series ended in the most frustrating way for the Yankees, as Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning gave the Dodgers a 6-3 victory. With the Yankees missing just a single road win and a 1-0 lead in the series, they will now have to quickly regroup if they want to separate themselves before the series returns to the Bronx.

One of the main reasons the Yankees were able to take a late lead in LA was because their ace got stronger. The man they signed for big games has held up his end of the bargain, that's for sure.

In his first World Series start as a Yankee, Gerrit Cole was pretty much everything anyone imagined when the Yankees signed him in the winter of 2019. In six innings, Cole allowed just one run on four hits and no walks, striking out four. Even the one run allowed was due to an error by someone other than him. LA's only run against Cole came when Juan Soto misplayed a hit from Kiké Hernández, which ended up allowing him a triple instead of a double. After that, Cole had the next few outs, but one of them was a fly ball deep enough to put the Dodgers on the field.

In fact, some of the only other real mistakes against Cole also had elements of a defensive misplay. From the first inning to the aforementioned Hernández triple, Cole retired 11 Dodgers batters in a row, keeping a very talented LA lineup in check.

In the end he didn't make a decision as the Dodgers tied the game after his exit, but Cole did everything you could ask for and made it third in the order with the Yankees in a very good position . It's certainly not his fault that the offense couldn't take advantage or that the bullpen couldn't hang on. As Derek Jeter and others noted in the postgame, the decision to take Cole out after 88 pitches had an impact on the bullpen, so the Yankees will have to deal with that too.

As for the other nominees, the only other real options are Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr. The former added yet another page to his postseason heroics with his two-story skyscraper in front of Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty – who mostly cruised wide. gave the Yankees their first lead of the game. Those heroics may not have resulted in another Yankees win, but the playoff legacy he continues to write is becoming more and more remarkable.

As for Chisholm, despite being ice cold in the playoffs up to this point, he was great in this game, finishing the game with two hits and three stolen bases. One of the hits came in the 10th inning, allowing him to start a rally with two stolen bases and set up a grounder by Anthony Volpe. Through sheer force of will, he almost dragged the Yankees to that win in the tenth game.

This game will be very painful, especially if the Yankees lose this series in any close way. However, if they can get back on track and bounce back from the Game 1 loss, there are some positive signs. One is that Gerrit Cole looked like the star Gerrit Cole the Yankees had signed for moments like this.