For the second time this decade, the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions.
The Dodgers fought back from down five runs to take Game 5 of the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees, 7-6, to win the eighth title in franchise history.
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm went back-to-back in the first inning, and by the fourth inning, it was a 5-0 lead for New York. However, their biggest issue in shoddy defense would come back to haunt them.
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In the fifth inning, Judge dropped a routine line drive. Then, Chisholm couldn’t handle a short throw at third. After that, Gerrit Cole didn’t cover first base on what should have been the third out, which instead was an RBI single. The Dodgers saw an opportunity and pounced, as Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez each drove in two runs to tie the game at five.
New York regained the lead in the sixth, but they were again gifted another chance in the eighth. L.A. loaded the bases before recording an out off Tommy Kahnle, prompting Aaron Boone to go with closer Luke Weaver. Gavin Lux, though, tied the game with a sac fly, and then Shohei Ohtani reached base on a catcher’s interference to load the bases again. The next batter, Mookie Betts, hit a sac fly, giving the Dodgers a 7-6 lead.
New York had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom half, but Giancarlo Stanton popped out, and Anthony Rizzo struck out to end the threat, as closer Blake Treinen completed his 2.1 scoreless innings of work.
Walker Buehler came on for the save, and he retired Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Alex Verdugo in order to preserve the title. He joked after the game that he wished he was in better shape in order to keep his heart rate down.
“What a moment for our team,” Treinen said to FOX’s Tom Verducci.
The Yankees were aiming to become the first team to ever force a Game 6 ever trailing 3-0 in a series – only three other instances had even gone to five games. In fact, it could be argued that the Yankees are winning this series, 3-2, if they play clean defense. However, only the Dodgers will be flying back to Los Angeles, and it will be for their World Series parade.
“A lot of people counted us out… but these guys believed in one another,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Now, they’re world champions.”
It’s Shohei Ohtani’s first championship in his very first trip to the postseason.
For Betts, it’s his third. Betts won two with the Dodgers and the other with the Boston Red Sox. Freeman picked up his second. Clayton Kershaw will also get a second ring despite an abbreviated season due to injury.
The Dodgers won the World Series in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but this is their first title in a full season since 1988. Treinen took a subtle shot at those who discredit that title, but said the guys on that 2020 team can still feel some relief.
“There’s been a lot of people that want to discredit 2020, and I don’t want to harp on this a lot, but it’s so great to see the guys still here from then be able to finally silence the critics from then.”
They were the wire-to-wire favorites from spring training, and now, it all makes sense as to why.
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