Fresh off his MVP-winning performance against the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman opened the World Series against the New York Yankees on Friday night with a… Rattle!

The first ball he hit in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, a 93.5 mph grounder off slugger Giancarlo Stanton's bat, went due to an error from Edman's glove, allowing the Yankees to go two on in the first inning to get two outs.

The safety utility man's rare blunder cost the Dodgers no damage, as the next batter, Jazz Chisholm Jr., retired in the bottom of the inning and Edman's night only got better from there.

Edman converted a double play on Juan Soto's grounder up the middle in the third inning and saved a run in the sixth inning with a diving stop that prevented Austin Wells' two-on groundball single from reaching the outfield.

Then, in the bottom of the 10th, Edman followed Gavin Lux's one-out walk with a single off the glove of diving second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, and Edman was at second when Freddie Freeman drew a crowd of 52,394 with a walk sent into a frenzy. hit a grand slam that gave the Dodgers a 6-3 victory.

“I don’t know, I kind of passed out,” Edman said when asked to describe his reaction to the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. “I'm sure I was screaming pretty loud and jumping up and down.

“I tried to get a big second lead to score with a single. I knew their outfielders were playing in because they didn't want anyone to score. I tried to get far away from the base and luckily I didn’t have to run very much.”

Edman batted .407 (11 for 27) with a 1.023 on-base plus slugging percentage, one homer, three doubles and 11 RBIs in the NLCS, including a two-run double and a two-run homer in a series-clinching 10-5 win over the Mets last Sunday night.

But that good vibe didn't seem to carry over to the World Series when Edman misplayed Stanton's grounder in the first inning.

“It was Stanton,” Edman said of baseball’s exit velocity king, whose massive two-run home run to left field in the sixth gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. “There aren't many people who hit the ball as hard as him and he just hit topspin like crazy. But it was good to put that behind us and make some good plays after that.”

After Gleyber Torres led off with an infield single in the third, Edman placed Soto's grounder behind second base, slid to the bag and touched the base while throwing hard to first base for a double play.

Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman throws to first base to complete a double play in the third inning against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Chisholm followed Stanton's home run in the sixth with a single to score reliever Anthony Banda. Anthony Rizzo struck for the second time. Chisholm stole second and Anthony Volpe was intentionally passed over.

Wells hit a grounder that appeared to be headed toward center field, but Edman smothered it with a diving stop on the second-base side of the bag, holding Wells to a single that loaded the bases. Banda struck out Alex Verdugo with a 98 mph fastball to end the inning.

“It's one of those plays that's underrated and people don't talk about it,” second baseman Lux said. “But I'm glad someone else saw it and recognized it as a big play because it saved a run. “

Had Wells' grounder reached the outfield, the speedy Chisholm would have scored from second for a 3-1 lead. Instead, the score remained 2:1. The Dodgers tied the game on Mookie Betts' sacrifice fly in the eighth, but without Edman's play in the sixth, the Yankees might have won in regulation.

“In a game like this with all the big moments, those things will definitely go unnoticed except by the guys on the field,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “Tommy’s stop was huge.”

Edman's play was one of several little things that went well for the Dodgers but was overshadowed by Freeman's big thing.

Reliever Brusdar Graterol, pitching for the first time in a month and eighth time this season, gave up one hit and struck out one in a scoreless seventh, his sinking fastball averaging and topping out at 98.9 mph reached 99.6.

With two ons and no outs in the bottom of the seventh and a break-in from first base by Rizzo, Kiké Hernández threw a perfect ball to third, a sacrifice the Dodgers were unable to capitalize on.

Left-hander Alex Vesia, who missed the NLCS with a chest injury, struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth, an indication that he could play a significant role in the best-of-seven series.

Shohei Ohtani was alert for an extra base in the bottom of the eighth when Yankees second baseman Torres, after his double off the right field wall, couldn't handle the short hop on Soto's throw from right field and the ball trickled toward the mound . Ohtani took third and scored on Betts' sacrifice throw to tie the game at 2-2.

Graterol missed most of the season with shoulder and hamstring injuries, but if the right-hander can get back to anything close to his 2023 form (4-2, 1.20 ERA in 68 games), he would make up for the loss of injured reliever Evan Phillips can cope.

“We’re betting on Brusdar’s heartbeat, that stuff,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He didn't help forever, but we put him on top, he hit a zero and kept us in the game. He had no light tonight.”