Pitcher Breaks Silence on Allowing Freddie Freeman Walk-Off Grand Slam in World Series vs Dodgers

Oct 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates after hitting a grand slam home run in the tenth inning against the New York Yankees during game one of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Nestor Cortes made one mistake in the 10th inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Game 1 of the World Series and Freddie Freeman sent Dodger Stadium into pandemonium with a walk-off grand slam.

Cortes had not pitched in nearly five weeks when his number was called out of the bullpen. but he was up for the challenge.

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“Going into the Series, I knew my lane was Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman,” Cortes said to The Athletic's Tyler Kepner. “Three MVPs, back to back to back.”

Cortes has now broken his silence about the grand slam.

How many times a day do you think about Freddie's World Series walk-off grand slam? pic.twitter.com/K9NZvDzgbb

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 14, 2024

“It was in enough, but low,” Cortes said. “And he’s known for going the opposite way. His game is left-center field. So for him to turn (on) that pitch, I give him all the credit. There was nothing I felt like I could have done to make the outcome better than what it was.”

Cortes doesn't like how it happened, but at this point, it is what it is.

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“I hate how it happened,” Cortes said. “Trust me, I (wasn’t) able to sleep after that, just because I replayed it in my head every single time. I guess he was on the right side of the baseball where he hit the home run. But it could have been a pop-up, it could have been a ground ball, it could have been a fly ball. There were so many outcomes with that pitch.”

Since then, the Yankees sent Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for star close Devin Williams.

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“It’s always a combination of things for us,” general manager Matt Arnold said. “Whether it’s present value or future value, we want to try to help the team win a championship, and so we felt like this did a little of both. You can’t replace a guy like Devin Williams, but the ability to get an established starter like Nestor and a young guy like Durbin, who has a chance to impact our infield, is pretty exciting for us.”

Cortes has one year remaining on his current deal before becoming a free agent, but for now, he will try and help the Brewers reach a new level of success.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.