Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the unrivaled Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions after stunning the Yankees with one of the most dramatic comebacks in baseball history.
From 5-0 down, the Dodgers fought back to 5-5, gave up the lead and then stole it again at the death, sealing the franchise’s eighth world title – and ending any possibility of this topsy-turvy series heading back to LA.
For so long on Wednesday night, it looked as though an Aaron Judge-inspired Yankees were summoning the spirit of the 2004 Red Sox to set up a blockbuster weekend on the west coast, but a catastrophic fifth-inning collapse proved to be their undoing.
History will look back upon this World Series with Freeman’s name up in lights. He was rightly named MVP amid the celebrations after hitting four home runs in the first four games of the series to propel the Dodgers to greatness.
Standing in the outfield at Yankee Stadium with his players around him, manager Dave Roberts said: ‘I thank god, I thank my players, their families… the fingerprints on Dodger nation… this trophy belongs to everyone.’
By contrast, Yankees manager Aaron Boone sat alone in his press conference fighting back tears. ‘I’m heartbroken,’ he said, while fielding questions about his own future after the gut-punch finale to the season.
It is the Dodgers’ first championship since 2020, when they were denied a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic, and now the trophy heads back to LA with the open-top bus waiting for them.
‘We deserve this’, pitcher Walker Buehler said on Fox after closing out the clinching game at Yankee Stadium. ‘Everyone talks s** about 2020, but there’s not much they can say about it now.’
In truth, the Yankees should have had plenty more to say. In this Game 5, they showed more grit, passion and talent than many thought possible after the disastrous three-loss start to the series.
The tone was immediately set by star pitcher Gerrit Cole in the top of the first, when he took out the Dodgers big hitters with just seven brutal pitches. Ohtani flew out to center field with the very first swing of the night, and Betts was gone three later.
As Freeman walked up to home plate, TV cameras cut to a fan in the stands holding aloft a homemade sign which read: ‘Enough already, Freddie.’ On the past two nights, he had homered with the 15th pitch of the game – but tonight, Cole had him out of there way before he had a chance.
And so, to the Yankees. Manager Aaron Boone called it before the game when he said that Judge is ‘always one pitch away from getting as hot as anyone’s ever seen.’
Until tonight, his first tilt at a World Series title had been quiet at best, dreadful at worst, but you can never write off baseball’s MVP.
Just as Boone had predicted, Judge’s bat was hot, and with his very first swing of the game, he sent the ball 403ft to right center-field, bringing home Juan Soto in the process to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead.
As should be the case with a Captain, where Judge goes others follow. For the Yankees, that meant another home run, this time for Jazz Chisholm. Like Judge, he sent his into right center-field, and like Judge it was his first ever in the World Series. 3-0, and these Yankees were cruising.
Quickly, three runs became four, and four became five. First, man-of-the-moment Volpe doubled on a line-drive to left, Austin Wells got him to third base, and then a hard-hit Alex Verdugo line-drive to right brought the superstar shortstop home.
Soon after, Giancarlo Stanton stepped up to the plate and walloped one deep into right-field. His manager was mic’d up by Fox at the time, and his shout of ‘BANG’ as the ball left the bat left no question over where it was going.
Entering the fifth inning, the Yankees had a 94% win likelihood and it was all going so well… until it wasn’t.
Through his first four innings, Cole threw 49 pitches and was on for a career-defining no-hitter. In a brutal, 17-minute fifth inning, he threw 38 pitches and gave up five runs to leave Yankee Stadium shellshocked.
It all began with an uncharacteristic error from Judge in the field, when he let a routine Tommy Edman line drive through his glove, allowing him to first base, and Enrique Hernandez to second.
Next, it was Volpe’s turn for a misfield – his toss to third in the dirt for an error that allowed Will Smith to first and the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs. Gavin Lux and Ohtani struck out swinging, but then disaster struck.
As Cole faced off with Mookie Betts, it felt like another pivotal moment in this momentous World Series match-up. A chance for the Yankees to take the roof off the stadium, and put one foot on the plane to LA.
Instead, a mix-up between Rizzo and Cole let Betts single on a ground ball, and the floodgates opened for the Dodgers.
Hernandez scored, then Freddie Freeman singled on a line drive to centre field to allow Edman and Smith home. Hernandez then doubled to bring Betts and Freeman back to the dugout and in the blink of an eye, 5-0 had become 5-5 and the Dodgers were eyeing glory.
Spare a thought for those in charge of the travel plans for these two teams, and the multiple Los Angeles hotels trying to work out whether they are about to host a few thousand raucous New Yorkers.
More to follow.
