Blake Treinen ‘found peace’ against Aaron Judge in World Series

Even the average baseball fan knows all about Kirk Gibson and his legendary home run. The serious baseball fan knows Dennis Eckersley gave up a home run. The die-hard Dodgers fan knows that Mike Davis is ahead of Gibson.

But even the most die-hard Dodgers fans couldn’t determine the winning pitcher that night.

Blake Treinenmeet Alejandro Peña.

Freddie Freeman is the winner from Treinen and all the Dodgers on Friday, breakthrough of the first Grand Slam tournament in the 121-year history of the World Series, sending the city into a frenzy and sparking the instant home run combination of Gibson and Freeman.

Treinen saved the Dodgers in the ninth inning of Game 1 against the mighty New York Yankees. The Dodgers saved it in the 10th inning when Freeman hit a home run so dramatic it was called legendary immediately after landing.

“That,” Treinen said, “was quite unpleasant.”

Treinen has become the most reliable asset in a deep bullpen. He gave up one attempt in August and no attempts in September. He gave up one attempt in October.

In the ninth inning, the Dodgers asked Treinen to relieve him. Michael Kopech with a potential winning run at second base. The Dodgers intentionally went with Juan Soto so Treinen would face presumptive American League MVP Aaron Judge.

“There’s peace in this,” Treinen said. “When you go outside and just let things be as they are, there is peace. You can let the situation escalate or you can just try to live with it and enjoy it.”

Treinen called it a “pick your poison” situation. Neither Soto nor Judge are a welcome sight at the plate, but with Judge, the Dodgers forced right-hander Treinen to face right-handed batters.

Jack FlahertyDodgers starter, knocked out Judge three times.

“He’s not a guy that you necessarily need to hit,” Treinen said, “because he’s a great hitter. But every hitter gives you a window from time to time. Here we were just trying to make weak contact or at least change the eye level, and luckily we got a pop-up.”

Kopech said, “Blake had already cleaned up some stuff for me this postseason, so for him to come in and do what he needed to do right here was huge.”

When Treinen returned to the dugout, Kike Hernandez asked him a question.

“Do you want me to put an end to this?” Hernandez asked.

This will not be the intended ending for tonight. The Dodgers retired the game in the ninth, and Hernandez walked to end the inning.

In the 10th, Treinen gave up a run when Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, stole second base, stole third base and scored on a force play. During the regular season, eight of nine runners successfully stole the ball from Treinen.

The Yankees led 3-2.

“At first,” Treinen said, “I was very upset that there would be an ‘L’ next to my name.”

Hernandez again told Treinen that the Dodgers would take him. After the game, Hernandez said he expected Shohei Ohtani would hit a home run right off the bat.

“Fairytale ending,” Hernandez said.

Instead, Freeman hit a home run – but what about the guy who could barely walk and delivered his own fairytale ending?

“I just started losing consciousness and was trying to get to the field. I almost fell over the railing,” Kopech said. “Freddy is a bad person.”

Treinen rushed to the plate to join his teammates, engulfing Freeman in a tight hug reminiscent of 1988.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team stay on the field for 20 minutes after the final game just to have the fans watch in awe and enjoy it,” Treinen said. “It was the most incredible moment I’ve ever been lucky enough to see in baseball.”

Legendary Hero: Freeman.

Winning pitcher with the first World Series win of his career: Treinen.

“I never thought about it,” Treinen said. “Add that to the list of thanks to the big guy up there.”