LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers and Yankees boast the two best rosters in sports, a fearsome trio of hitters at the heart of the team that can change a game at any moment. It's enough to make any manager squeamish when faced with often impossible decisions.

After Shohei Ohtani dove to left fielder Alex Verdugo in foul territory in the 10th inning, an incredible catch that was largely forgotten End of Game 1 – the momentum took Verdugo over the wall and out of the game, giving Gavin Lux and Tommy Edman an extra base and moving them to second and third base with two outs.

With left-hander Nestor Cortes in the game – his first appearance since September 18 after struggling with an elbow strain – the Yankees intentionally chose to play right-hander Mookie Betts over left-hander Freddie Freeman.

“I’ll just take the left-on-left duel there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “No, I didn’t think about it for long.”

“We’ve seen it all year long. They accompanied Shohei to get to Mookie and Mookie to get to me,” Freeman said. “That’s the good thing about our lineup. It’s a tough matchup no matter where you are and trying to make a pitch.”

We experienced that at times, especially towards the end of the season when Shohei Ohtani got really hot on the track. Given the dire situation, the opposing manager intentionally went to Ohtani to get to Betts, who rewarded them with a game-winning home run in Anaheim and a go-ahead single in Atlanta.

Usually it is a very critical situation when the manager seems to have no other option to escape and/or limit the damage.

The Dodgers were on the other end of that decision in the ninth inning. Michael Kopech got the first two outs but then gave up a double to Gleyber Torres. The ball hit by Torres was caught by a fan in left field, who reached over the wall to grab it, prompting calls for fan interference – another key moment swept under the rug by the incredible finish.

With Torres at second base, it was time for the Yankees' next fearsome gauntlet. Juan Soto, who had previously walked and singled, was intentionally walked so that right-hander Blake Treinen could face Aaron Judge, who hit just 58 homers this season with a wRC+ of 218, the best by a right-handed hitter ever scored in American history or national leagues in modern times.

Judge, who struck out three times against starter Jack Flaherty, popped out to stop Tommy Edman to end that threat.

“It’s never easy,” manager Dave Roberts said of asking Soto to intentionally accompany Judge. “It’s never comfortable. You just have to believe in your process and the match you made right there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Treinen stayed in the 10th inning and allowed one run, something he has done only twice in his last 22 appearances and 24⅔ innings since August 24th. He would have been responsible for the loss had Freeman not delivered the walk-off hit.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time the Dodgers are up 1-0 in the World Series.