LOS ANGELES — As Yankees reliever Jake Cousins strolled to the mound for the bottom of the 10th inning, a simple yet delicate task lay before him: Retire the side in order against the bottom-third of the Dodgers lineup — leaving Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman stuck watching — and would belong to New York. If one of Will Smith, Gavin Lux or Tommy Edman were to reach base, the entire complexion of the ballgame would change. With Ohtani looming in the leadoff spot, Cousins was sure to be pulled should the soon-to-be NL MVP come to the plate.
As for who would enter from New York’s bullpen to face Ohtani in that scenario? That was a question manager Aaron Boone surely did not want to have to answer. Six days earlier, Cousins had been brilliant in ALCS Game 5, striking out four of the five batters he faced in the later stages of a tie game the Yankees would go on to win to clinch the American League pennant. Cousins is one of several Yankees reliever reclamation projects who has gradually earned Boone’s trust in high-leverage spots, and with go-to guys Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver having already pitched in regulation, it was Cousins — with just one career save to his name — who got the ball with the chance to close out Game 1.
With three more outs, the Yankees would claim a narrow road victory in a game that featured ace Gerrit Cole delivering six stellar innings of one-run ball and yet another spectacular blast from October superhero Gia.
