New York Yankees vs Los Angels Dodgers World Series Game 1 live: Scores, updates, highlights, commentary

Flaherty got Gleyber Torres out on a liner to third, and he then walked Juan Soto on four pitches. He struck out Aaron Judge, but Tommy Edman wasn’t able to handle a hard-hit grounder for Giancarlo Stanton to put runners on first-and-second. The 29-year-old was able to get Jazz Chisholm to ground out to second to escape the inning without damage.

Much was made of Flaherty having his velocity dip down, but that wasn’t an issue in the first inning.

The pre-game festivities are always something to behold for the World Series, but they had a different tone this time around.

Los Angeles honored legendary Dodger hurler Fernando Valenzuela after Valenzuela passed away Tuesday. Instead of throwing out a first pitch, fellow former Los Angeles stalwart Orel Hershiser placed the baseball behind the number 34, which has been painted behind the mound to honor Valenzuela.

Dodgers: Won National League West at 98-64 and clinched first-round bye; won the NLDS 3-2 over the Padres; won the NLCS 4-2 over the Mets.

Yankees: Won the AL East at 94-68 and clinched first-round bye; won the ALDS 3-1 over the Royals; won the ALCS over Guardians 4-1

The Yankees have only lost two postseason games thus far, but that’s not say it’s been a breeze for the AL winners. Two of their three wins over the Royals were by just one run in the Division Series, with the other a 3-1 victory. Their final two wins in the ALCS saw them score runs in the ninth and tenth innings, respectively, including the extra-inning homer for Juan Soto that clinched their trip to the Fall Classic. This is not to say the Yankees haven’t been good because of course it isn’t, but fans of the Empire would be the first to tell you there’s been some hang-on-to-your-seat moments.

It was almost an early exit for the Dodgers in the NLDS as they trailed San Diego 2-1 in the best-of-five format, but they were able to win the final two games thanks in large part to their bullpen — and the Padres’ bats going ice cold. The NLCS was a bizarre one that saw no close games, and the Dodgers’ bats were simply too much for the Mets’ pitching staff to handle. The Dodgers’ rotation has essentially been a mess outside of one start each from Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — and a so-so one from Walker Buehler — but the bullpen has (mostly) been outstanding, and the Los Angeles lineup has been spectacular. No surprise there.

Cole is the reigning Cy Young winner, but on top of missing significant time due to injury, he had an inconsistent season that saw him forge a 3.41 ERA and 99/29 K/BB over 17 starts and 95 innings. That inconsistency has carried over to the postseason, as he’s had two so-so starts with a brilliant one against the Royals in between those outings. Cole has made two starts in the World Series in his career — both in 2019 while he was with the Astros — and he threw 14 innings with a 3.86 ERA with a 15/3 K/BB. It’s unlikely there will be jitters for Cole, but the concern here is that he hasn’t missed bats as of late and facing a loaded Dodgers lineup.

Flaherty was acquired by the Dodgers from the Tigers at the deadline, and Los Angeles would be in a lot of trouble if they hadn’t have made that deal considering their starting pitcher issues. He struck out 194 batters in his 162 innings while walking just 38 opponents with a 3.17 ERA in his 28 starts with his two clubs. The 29-year-old was roughed up for eight runs in just three innings in his last postseason start, but prior to that he dominated the Padres with seven scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. As good as Cole has been over his career, it’s fair to argue that Flaherty has the higher upside of the two starters, but the lower floor.

• Moneyline: LAD: (-126) | NYY: (+108)
  
• Spread: LAD: -1.5 (+152) | NYY: +1.5 (-184)
  
• Total: 9 -- Over: (+102) | Under: (-124)

Both teams have announced their starting lineups for the ever-so-critical Game 1, and there’s no real surprises.

* The big news for the Dodgers — outside of this lineup being really good — is that Freddie Freeman is back as expected after missing Game 6 due to his ankle injury. It’ll be interesting to see how much maintenance the Dodgers do, but as long as he’s relatively healthy, he’s going to be in the lineup.

* Enrique Hernández gets the start in center, with Andy Pages beginning the game on the bench. Hernández has been a stellar performer in the playoffs throughout his career, and he’s hit 8-for-21 against Gerrit Cole in a (very) small sample with a homer and three doubles.

And it looks like Hernández isn’t leaving the lineup anytime soon.

* Miguel Rojas is back after missing the NLCS, but will begin the game on the bench. It’s likely we see Rojas used as a defensive replacement late in games, but he will start Game 2, so that’ll mean Gavin Lux retreats to the bench for that contest Saturday.

* Giancarlo Stanton remains in the cleanup spot, which makes sense considering how white-hot he’s been with the bat as of late. Austin Wells will hit eighth; the usual cleanup hitter against right-handed pitchers.

*Jasson Dominguez remains on the bench with Alex Verdugo the starter in left. So far Verudgo has registered a paltry .544 OPS, and if he struggles over the first couple of games of the series, it wouldn’t be a huge upset if the Yankees turned to the Martian at some point in this best-of-seven set.