The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees, 7-6 on Wednesday, to win their eighth championship in franchise history.
They needed a dramatic comeback to pull it off, rallying from a 5-0 deficit at Yankee Stadium before winning Game 5. Walker Buehler, who started Game 2, recorded the game’s final three outs to close out the game — and the season.
A pair of sacrifice flies in the eighth inning put the Dodgers in the lead for good. After the Dodgers loaded the bases against Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver inherited a bases-loaded no-out jam. Sacrifice flies by Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers their sixth and seventh runs, respectively.
The Dodgers’ eighth championship tied the Boston Red Sox for fifth all-time, behind the Yankees (27), St. Louis Cardinals (11), Athletics (9), and matching the Giants (8).
The Yankees scored the game’s first five runs before starting pitcher Gerrit Cole allowed a hit.
Aaron Judge’s first home run of the World Series, a two-run blast off Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty in the first inning, struck the first blow. Jazz Chisholm followed with a home run of his own.
Up 3-0 in the second inning, New York scored again on a double by Anthony Volpe and an RBI single by Alex Verdugo. That was the last batter for Flaherty, who pitched into the sixth inning of Game 1 last Friday at Dodger Stadium, but could not make it out of the second on Wednesday.
Anthony Banda took over and walked Judge and Juan Soto, before retiring Jazz Chisholm on a bases-loaded groundout to escape further damage.
Giancarlo Stanton’s home run against Ryan Brasier in the fifth inning staked the Yankees to a 5-0 lead, with no sign of the momentum shifting against Cole.
The right-hander had not allowed a hit, walked only two, and struck out three in the game’s first four innings. But Kiké Hernández broke up the no-hit bid with a single to lead off the fifth inning, before errors by Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe allowed Tommy Edman and Will Smith to reach base, loading the bases.
Cole came back to strike out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani, but Mookie Betts reached on a defensive miscue between Cole and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo fielded a cue-shot ground ball by Betts with time to run to the base for the unassisted third out. Instead he looked up, hoping to toss the ball to Cole — who was nowhere near first base.
Betts was safe, Hernández scored from third, and the Dodgers had their first run.
A single by Freddie Freeman, and a double by Teoscar Hernández followed, and suddenly the game was tied at 5.
Remarkably, Cole continued pitching into the seventh inning without allowing another run. Meanwhile the Yankees took a 6-5 lead when Juan Soto led off the sixth inning with a walk and came around to score on a Stanton sacrifice fly.
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