You gotta hand it to Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Yankees certainly did.
When New York let LA back into World Series game five, the star-studded Dodgers did what they’ve done all year — kept on going and finished.
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After taking advantage of three miscues to erase a five-run, fifth-inning deficit during one of the most memorable midgame meltdowns in baseball history, the Dodgers rallied on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth to beat New York 7-6.
“We’re obviously resilient, but there’s so much love in the clubhouse that won this game today,” Betts said.
“That’s what it was. It was love, it was grit. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I’m just proud of us and I’m happy for us.”
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for New York. Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second, and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.
But errors by Judge in centre and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts’ grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.
“This is going to sting forever,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I’m heartbroken.”
After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.
Judge doubled off winner Blake Treinen with one out in the bottom half and Chisholm walked. Manager Dave Roberts walked to the mound with Treinen at 37 pitches.
“I looked in his eyes. I said, ‘How you feeling? How much more you got?'” Roberts recalled.
“He said: ‘I want it’. I trust him.”
Treinen retired Stanton on a flyout and struck out Anthony Rizzo.
Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save.
When Buehler struck out Verdugo to end the game, the Dodgers poured onto the field to celebrate between the mound and first base, capping a season in which they won 98 games and finished with the best regular-season record.
With several thousand Dodgers fans remaining in a mostly empty stadium, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred presented the trophy on a platform quickly erected over second base.
“There’s just a lot of ways we can win baseball games,” Buehler said.
“Obviously the superstars we have on our team and the discipline, it just kind of all adds up.”
Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went two for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his left shoulder during a stolen base attempt in game two.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960, and was voted Series MVP.
With the Dodgers one out from losing Saturday’s (AEDT) opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s game one that sparked Los Angeles to the title.
The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles — their first in a non-shortened season since 1988.
They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn’t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
These Dodgers of Ohtani, Freeman and Betts joined the 1955 Duke Snider and Roy Campanella Boys of Summer, the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale era that spanned the three titles from 1959-65, the Tommy Lasorda-led groups 1981 and ’88 and the Betts and Clayton Kershaw champions of 2020.
Ending a season that started with a gambling scandal involving Ohtani’s interpreter, Roberts won his second championship in nine years as Dodgers manager, matching Lasorda and trailing the four of Walter Alston.
The Dodgers won for the fourth time in 12 series meetings with the Yankees.
New York remained without a title since its record 27th in 2009. The Yankees acquired Juan Soto from San Diego in December knowing he would be eligible for free agency after the 2024 series.
The 26-year-old star went five for 16 with one RBI in the series heading into what will be intensely followed bidding on the open market.
Judge finished four for 18 with three RBIs.
Cole didn’t allow a hit until Kiké Hernández singled leading off the fifth.
Judge, who an inning earlier made a leaping catch at the left-centre wall to deny Freeman an extra-base hit, dropped Tommy Edman’s fly to centre. Volpe then bounced a throw to third on Will Smith’s grounder, allowing the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs.
Cole struck out Lux and Ohtani, and Betts hit a grounder to Rizzo. Cole didn’t cover first, pointing at Rizzo to run to the bag as Betts outraced the first baseman.
Freeman followed with a two-run single and Teoscar Hernández hit a tying two-run double. Max Muncy walked before Kiké Hernández grounded into a forceout on Cole’s 48th pitch of the inning.
“We just take advantage of every mistake they made in that inning,” Teoscar Hernández said.
“We put some good at-bats together. We put the ball in play.”