For the second time in five seasons and the first time in a full season since 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions. It took a supremely ugly Game 5 to get them there. They will take it with a swig of champagne.
Entering with a 3-1 series lead but perhaps more than a few nerves after a rough loss to the New York Yankees in Game 4, the Dodgers fell behind 5-0 before a chaotic comeback put the Commissioner’s Trophy in their hands with a 7-6 win.
The Yankees would have become the first team in World Series history to force a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0. They got started early when Aaron Judge broke through his postseason demons with a two-run homer in the first, then got one more when Jazz Chisholm Jr. went back-to-back.
It was a rough start for the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty, who was more than solid in Game 1 but eventually exited after 1 1/3 innings with four earned runs to his name. A Giancarlo Stanton home run off Ryan Brasier proceeded to make it a five-run lead in the third inning.
Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole was doing exactly what the Yankees paid him to do. He threw four hitless innings to open the game and then, well, the fifth inning happened.
A series of three major defensive miscues tied the game, with the Dodgers scoring five unearned runs as Yankee Stadium went from raucous to stunned. First was Judge bobbling an easy fly ball. Second was Anthony Volpe bouncing a throw to third while trying to get the lead runner. Third was Gerrit Cole declining to cover first base on a routine grounder.
The Yankees took the lead back in the sixth inning on a Stanton sacrifice fly, but the Dodgers took it back in the seventh after Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with no outs. Another miscue followed when Austin Wells gave Shohei Ohtani a free base with a catcher’s interference, with a pair of sacrifice flies supplying the deciding runs.
After being down five runs, the Dodgers moved into World Series-winning position and it was almost entirely thanks to the Yankees. Blake Treinen threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to push the lead into the ninth, and then Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ likely Game 7 starter, finished off a game that should make Yankees fans vomit for years to come.
New York had a chance to make history just by sending the series back to Los Angeles, and instead watched MLB’s other juggernaut celebrate a World Series in The Bronx.
Here’s how it all went down on Yahoo Sports:
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Again, one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.
In MLB history,
over 30 players have hit 50 HR in a season
over 200 players have had 50 SB in a season
over 150 players have won MVP
over 1500 players have won a WSOnly one has done all four (same season or not): Shohei Ohtani.
He did it all in 2024 (assuming he wins MVP). pic.twitter.com/zBPCLyScCd
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 31, 2024
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Walker Buehler has something to say.
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Did Juan Soto just play his final game in a Yankees uniform?
Juan Soto almost certainly made himself some money this postseason. The only question is if the Yankees are the ones who will give it to him. Soto’s free agency figures to be the second-most lucrative in MLB history after Ohtani’s $700 million deal, and it could be worth even more when accounting for inflation due to the Dodgers star’s deferrals.
The Yankees and Mets loom as his biggest natural suitors, but the Dodgers were reported earlier this week to be interested. It’s going to be expensive for the Yankees to bring this team back.
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Shohei Ohtani is a World Series champion
He didn’t do much in the World Series, but Shohei Ohtani got the Dodgers there. He is now a World Series champion, a Japan Series champion and a World Baseball Classic champion.
Arguably the most talented player in the history of baseball now has the one big thing missing on his resume, and all it took was joining a Dodgers team that needed him. His 2024 season will be a legend in Japan.
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That was Walker Buehler’s first career save.
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Final: Dodgers 7, Yankees 6
The Dodgers have officially picked up their eighth World Series title, and their first since 2020.
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Dodgers win the World Series
And that’ll do it! The Dodgers win have officially won the World Series 4-1.
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Austin Wells strikes out swinging, and the Dodgers are one out away. Alex Verdugo is up now for the Yankees.
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Anthony Volpe grounds out to third, and one out is gone in the ninth.
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Walker Buehler is on the mound now for the Dodgers here in the ninth.
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Leiter struck out Edman, and then Smith grounded out to third to end the inning. The Yankees will head to the bottom of the ninth now down a run with the World Series on the line.
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Kiké Hernandez was just walked too, and Aaron Boone is headed out to the mound. Mark Leiter is coming in now to try and close the inning out for the Yankees and keep their deficit at a single run.
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Teoscar Hernandez just opened the ninth with a base hit, and Taylor is in to run for him now and finish out the game in left. Taylor just advanced to second on a balk after Weaver tried to throw over to first too many times, too.
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Stanton flied out to right on the first pitch of his at bat, and then Treinen struck Anthony Rizzo out swinging to escape the inning.
The Dodgers are now just three outs away from winning the World Series.
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And Treinen just walked Jazz Chisholm. He’s up to 37 pitches now with just one out in the eighth as Dave Roberts walks out to the mound. Treinen will stay in the game for now.
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Juan Soto grounded out for the first out of the inning, but Aaron Judge followed it up with a perfect double to left. The Yankees are in position to take the lead once again here in the eighth.
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Weaver threw only 13 pitches there, so decent chance he sticks around for the top of the ninth with 4-5-6 due up for the Dodgers.
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Weaver strikes out Freddie Freeman to end the inning, but the damage is done. Blake Treinen is staying in, with Walker Buehler ready to be deployed if he gets into trouble.
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Walker Buehler is throwing again in the bullpen.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 31, 2024
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Another sac fly from Mookie Betts, and the Dodgers have come all the way back. They lead in the eighth inning. Their bullpen is nearly empty, but they are six outs from a World Series title.
