In what is surely one of the most divisive World Series matchups of all time, two of the biggest spenders in the biggest markets in the MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees , many expect there to be fireworks given the talent of the players involved. However, even though both teams have star-studded lineups led by two of the best hitters in today's game, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, either team did not score a run until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Dodgers opened the scoring.
As a result of this, a World Series oddity that hasn't happened since 2000 occurred on Friday night. Game 1 of the 2024 World Series marks the first time in 24 years that a World Series game went scoreless through the first four innings, according to Elias Sports Bureau, via ClutchPoints on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Perhaps this shouldn't have been too big of a surprise; after all, the Dodgers and Yankees started the best starting pitchers of their playoff runs thus far in Jack Flaherty and Gerrit Cole, respectively. With everything on the line, every run matters, and no pitcher would want to be guilty of giving up the run that leads to one's defeat.
Both teams have been the cream of the crop of their respective leagues all season long, and this just shows how both the Dodgers and Yankees refuse to relent even the slightest of inches to each other. In fact, these two teams have been trading blows like championship heavyweights in the middle of the ring in round 12.
Make no mistake about it, however, the potential for scoring fireworks is still high, but fans may have to wait until Game 2 for that to materialize.
In the playoffs, it rarely matters how teams manage to drive in runs. What matters is that they put up runs on the board and they do so more frequently than their opponent. In Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, the Dodgers and Yankees employed some sort of styles clash in the manner in which they scored.
The Dodgers, stymied by the Yankees' pitching almost all night long, drove in both of their runs thus far via two sacrifice flies -- one from Mookie Betts and one from Will Smith. Meanwhile, the Yankees drove in two runs with one big swing, thanks to another Giancarlo Stanton dinger.
But in a game befitting of both teams' caliber, the game has gone to extra innings, which is as exciting of a way to start off the World Series as there can be.