It immediately became another “Remember the time…” moment in Dodgers history.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, his team up 1-0, and with runners on second and third, former Dodger and current Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora elected to have 32-year-old Valencia, CA native left-hander Brennan Bernardino intentionally walk Dodgers catcher Will Smith and instead pitch to Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman with hopes that the 34-year-old Villa Park, CA native would hit into an inning-ending double play to maintain his team’s 1-0 lead over Dodgers manager (and former Red Sox outfielder) Dave Roberts‘ team.

Oops.

You guessed it. Freeman crushed Bernardino’s second pitch, a 78.6-mph curveball, for the seventh grand slam home run of his 15-year MLB career to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead and final score.

“I was excited, you kind of live for those situations, you want to be up in those situations, so, when you get the opportunity to try and potentially win a game for your team, that’s all you can care about,” Freeman told SportsNet LA’s David Vassegh postgame. “I was just trying to hit a fly ball and I hit a fly ball in a sense,” he added with his famous Freeman smile.

“I think, from the other dugout, it’s a no-win situation, pick-your-poison, and, you know, that’s a tough one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame of Cora’s decision to intentially walk Smith to load the bases and pitch to Freeman. “So, it started with Vargy (Miguel Vargas) getting on base and Shohei (Ohtani)’s double right there, which kinda put the onus on the manager, AC, to make a decision,” added Roberts.

Thanks, “AC.”

Play Ball!

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