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Jeff Passan, ESPNOct 29, 2024, 08:49 PM ET
- ESPN MLB insider
Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
NEW YORK — Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman homered in the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night, breaking a World Series record with a homer in sixth consecutive games.
The 35-year-old Freeman, whose injuries had hobbled him and limited him to only singles through the first two rounds of the playoffs, has found his power stroke in the World Series. His latest home run came off an 86 mph slider from New York Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and staked the Dodgers to a 2-0 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Yankees responded in a big way to win their first game of the series, 11-4.
According to ESPN Research, Freeman is the second player to homer in four straight games in a single World Series, and the first to homer in each of the first four games. George Springer homered in the last four games of the 2017 World Series against the Dodgers.
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Los Angeles leads the series 3-1. Freeman is the overwhelming favorite to earn MVP honors if the Dodgers can clinch their eighth championship. Game 5 is Wednesday.
“I will look back on it after, hopefully, when we get this done tomorrow,” Freeman said. “Pretty cool obviously, hopefully I can keep it going tomorrow.”
Freeman has hit two-run, first-inning homers in consecutive games, tagging Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt in a 4-2 victory Monday in Game 3. His Game 2 home run, off New York left-hander Carlos Rodon, was the team’s third of the game.
In Game 1, Freeman set the tone for the series with the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
The streak dates to 2021, when Freeman was with the Atlanta Braves and they were finishing a World Series win against Houston. Freeman homered in a Game 5 loss before adding a solo shot — his fifth of the series — in the seventh inning of the Braves’ title-clinching win in Game 6.
In the 10 games of his World Series career, Freeman is hitting .343/.385/.943 with six home runs and 14 RBIs.
