The Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions again after a blowout victory over their historically bitter rivals, the New York Yankees.
Before they could hoist their trophy, the Boys in Blue erased a five-point deficit and defeated New York 7-6.
As expected, and rightly so, first baseman Freddie Freeman was named MVP of the series after the game. He was incredible throughout and started the series with a bang in the form of a walk-off grand slam. That home run started a streak of four consecutive World Series games with a long ball. He finished the series with six hits and 12 RBIs.
After giving up five runs early in the game, the Dodgers slowly chipped away at the Yankee lead. In contrast to the high-powered offense that got them to this point, the Dodgers relied on small-ball to pull out Wednesday night’s victory, using several sacrifice flies and crucial baserunning to slowly claw their way back and finish the eighth to win the franchise’s World Series title.
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Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty came right out of the gate, allowing back-to-back home runs to Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm in the first inning and an RBI single to Alex Verdugo in the second, leading to him getting the early hook .
The Yankees scored another run in the bottom of the third inning when Giancarlo Stanton crushed an opposite-field home run off reliever Ryan Brasier.
Despite holding a 5-0 lead, the Yankees faltered in the fifth inning, allowing the Dodgers to tie the game after a pair of fielding blunders, a two-run single by Freddie Freeman and a two-run double off the bat of Teoscar Hernández. .
With Flaherty out of the game after just four outs, the Dodgers were forced to suffer their second straight bullpen game, with manager Dave Roberts throwing seven arms in relief.
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With the game ahead in the sixth inning, Stanton drove in what was then the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to deep center field, scoring Juan Soto from third base, giving the Pinstripes the lead again.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole threw almost seven innings and, despite the rough fifth inning, walked off the field with a lead and a standing ovation from the fans in New York.
In the top of the eighth, with their lead still intact, Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases without securing an out, making way for Luke Weaver, who was incredible in October. He managed to limit the damage, but still scored both the tying run and the leading runs on sacrifice flies.
Lux first made a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game and make way for Shohei Ohtani in a situation that looked like something out of a Hollywood movie. However, in a bizarre turn of events, he reached first base on just two pitches after catching New York backstop Austin Wells’ catcher’s interference. Outside of that at bat, Ohtani was quiet again, going 0-for-four with a strikeout.
With the bases once again loaded, star outfielder Mookie Betts hit his own sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run, giving the Boys in Blue a 7-6 lead.
Roberts left right-handed reliever Blake Treinen in the game for 41 pitches, recording a whopping seven outs, sending the game into the ninth inning.
Although traditionally a starter, Roberts called on Walker Buehler in the bottom of the ninth inning to take on the Yankees lineup and he did just that, mowing down the bottom three batters and securing the title to set.
