You gotta hand it to Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n
The Yankees certainly did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When New York let LA back into World Series Game 5, the star-studded Dodgers did what they\u2019ve done all year — kept on going and finished.<\/p>\n
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 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re obviously resilient, but there\u2019s so much love in the clubhouse that won this game today,\u201d Betts said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it was. It was love, it was grit. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I\u2019m just proud of us and I\u2019m happy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for New York. Alex Verdugo\u2019s RBI single\u00a0chased Jack Flaherty in the second<\/span>, and Giancarlo Stanton\u2019s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to sting forever,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cI\u2019m heartbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n After Stanton\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked in his eyes. I said how you feeling? How much more you got?\u201d Roberts recalled. \u201cHe said: `I want it.\u2019 I trust him.\u201d<\/p>\n Treinen retired Stanton on a flyout and struck out Anthony Rizzo.<\/p>\n Walker Buehler, making his\u00a0first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018<\/span>, pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just a lot of ways we can win baseball games,\u201d Buehler said. \u201cObviously the superstars we have on our team and the discipline, it just kind of all adds up.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers\u2019 record-setting $700 million signing and baseball\u2019s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his left shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.<\/p>\n Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs<\/span>, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960, and was voted Series MVP. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday\u2019s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson\u2019s homer off Oakland\u2019s Dennis Eckersley in 1988\u2019s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.<\/p>\n The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles \u2014 their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a\u00a0neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020<\/span>\u00a0after a 60-game regular season and couldn\u2019t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n 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 \u201988 and the Betts and Clayton Kershaw champions of 2020.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ending a season that started with a gambling scandal involving Ohtani\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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 5 for 16 with one RBI in the Series heading into what will be intensely followed bidding on the open market.<\/p>\n Judge finished 4 for 18 with three RBIs<\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cole didn\u2019t allow a hit until Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez singled leading off the fifth. Judge, who an inning earlier made a leaping catch at the left-center wall to deny Freeman an extra-base hit, dropped Tommy Edman\u2019s fly to center. Volpe then bounced a throw to third on Will Smith\u2019s grounder, allowing the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs.<\/p>\n Cole struck out Lux and Ohtani, and Betts hit a grounder to Rizzo. Cole didn\u2019t cover first, pointing at Rizzo to run to the bag as Betts outraced the first baseman.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Freeman followed with a two-run single and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez hit a tying two-run double. Max Muncy walked before Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez grounded into a forceout on Cole\u2019s 48th pitch of the inning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just take advantage of every mistake they made in that inning,\u201d Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cWe put some good at-bats together. We put the ball in play.\u201d<\/p>\n Stanton\u2019s sixth-inning sacrifice fly off Brusdar Graterol put the Yankees ahead 6-5, but the Dodgers rallied one last time in the eighth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez singled off Tommy Kahnle leading off. Edman followed with an infield hit and Smith walked on four pitches. Lux\u2019s sacrifice fly off Luke Weaver tied the score. Ohtani reached on catcher\u2019s interference and Betts followed with another sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers their first lead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Purchased by Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012<\/span>, the Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman from Tampa Bay to head their baseball operations two years later. He boosted the front office with a multitude of analytics and performance science staff, and ownership supplied the cash.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Los Angeles went on an unprecedented $1.25 billion spending spree last offseason on deals with Ohtani, pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, and outfielder Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez. Much of the money was future obligations that raised the Dodgers\u2019 deferred compensation to $915.5 million owed from 2028-44.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Faced with injuries, the Dodgers acquired Flaherty, Edman and reliever Michael Kopech ahead of the trade deadline, and all became important cogs in the title run. The additions boosted payroll to $266 million, third behind the Mets and the Yankees, plus a projected $43 million luxury tax.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n AMN | Reporters | Associated Press.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 5, the star-studded Dodgers did what they\u2019ve done all year — kept on going and finished. 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