A pair of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers We were at the turning point of the epic Game 1 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees. He struck out six, allowing four hits and one run while striking out six. Former Pirates pitcher Clay Holmes relieved him; he also fired only two shots and did not allow any escape.

The Dodgers were able to win 6-3 with two outs in the 10th inning on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam.

Cole survived the hump in the first inning, striking out 10 before Kiké Hernández tripled and scored the first run of the game on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly. The 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner escaped another jam in the sixth after managing to strike out Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman following a leadoff double from Tommy Edman.

Following a leadoff single by Teoscar Hernández in the seventh, Cole was relieved by Holmes. Kiké hit Max Muncy with a pitch before moving runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. Holmes struck out once again as Smith grounded out to Anthony Volpe and then got relief thanks to Tommy Kahnle, who walked off the inning.

Cole was No. 1 overall pirates He left UCLA in the 2011 MLB Draft and made his big league debut in 2013, spending five seasons in Pittsburgh. The six-time All-Star went 59-42 with a 3.50 ERA while striking out 734 batters in 782 1/3 innings with the team. The former Pirates ace was later traded to the Houston Astros, where he developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Cole was 35-10 with a 2.68 ERA in his two-year stint with the Astros before signing a nine-year, $324 million deal with New York in the 2020 offseason. Cole went 59-28 with a 3.12 ERA in his five seasons with the Yankees and won his first Cy Young Award in 2023.

Holmes was also drafted by the Pirates in 2011 and struggled to reach the majors in 2018. He went 5-7 with a 5.57 ERA over his three-plus seasons with the team. pittsburgh They traded him to the Yankees at the 2021 deadline and he has since turned it around, becoming a two-time All-Star and going 19-15 with a 2.69 ERA with 74 saves in 217 2/3 innings.

Game 2 of the World Series will be played on Saturday at 8:08 PM ET at Dodger Stadium.

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