The Dodgers won the World Series in 5 games, beating the New York Yankees.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive errors and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth innings to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, an RBI single by Alex Verdugo. chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s homer in the third inning against Ryan Brazier gave the Yankees a 5–0 lead.

But errors by umpire in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, coupled with pitcher Gerrit Cole’s failure to cover a grounded Betts first, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.

After Stanton’s sixth-inning lead gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead, the Dodgers loaded the bases against Tommy Kahnle’s grounder in the eighth before a sacrifice fly off Luke Weaver.

Winner Blake Treinen avoided a two-on-one jam in the bottom half by bringing Stanton out on the wing and striking out Anthony Rizzo.

Walker Buehler doing his first substitute appearance since his rookie season in 2018pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save.

“Obviously we’re resilient, but there’s so much love for the club that won this game today,” Betts said. “That’s what it was. It was love, it was courage. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I’m just proud of us and happy for us.”

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 their best regular season record.

“There are many ways to win a baseball game,” Buehler said. “Obviously the superstars on our team and the discipline all add up.”

Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record $700 million signee and baseball’s first player with 50 hits and 50 steals, went 2-for-19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder while trying to steal a base in Game 2.

Freddie Freeman released a two-run single and set a series high with 12 RBIs.set by Bobby Richardson in seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers down in the opener Friday, Freeman hit a final grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of 1988 that led Los Angeles to the title.

The Dodgers won their eighth championship and seventh since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for the first time in an unabridged season since 1988. World Series at a neutral site against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and was unable to hold a parade due to the coronavirus pandemic.

These Dodgers of Ohtani, Freeman and Betts join the 1955 Duke Snider and Roy Campanella Boys of Summer, the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale era that spanned three titles from 1959 to 1965, the 1981 and 1988 Tommy Lasorda-led groups and to Betts. and Clayton Kershaw are the 2020 champions.

Dave Roberts won his second championship in nine seasons as Dodgers manager, tying Lasorda and losing to Walter Alston’s four. The Dodgers won for the fourth time in the 12th series against the Yankees.

New York has been without a title since finishing in a record 27th place 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 an RBI single in the series heading into heavily watched open market trading.

Judge finished 4-for-18 with three RBIs..

Cole did not allow a hit until Kiké Hernandez singled in the fifth. Judge, who had taken a dive to the wall earlier in the inning to deny Freeman an extra hit, dropped Tommy Edman’s fly to center. Shortstop Anthony Volpe then deflected a throw to third on Will Smith’s grounder, allowing the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs.

Cole struck out Lux and Ohtani, and Betts struck out Rizzo. Cole did not cover first, pointing to Rizzo to run to the bag as Betts walked the first baseman.

Freeman followed with a two-run single and Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run, tying double. Max Muncy walked before Kiké Hernandez grounded out on Cole’s 48th pitch of the inning.

“We’ll just take advantage of every mistake they made in this half,” Teoscar Hernandez said. “We have got some good batsmen. We put the ball in play.”

Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly off Brusdar Graterol gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead, but the Dodgers rallied for the final time in the eighth.

Kiké Hernandez singled to lead off Tommy Kahnle. Edman followed with an infield hit that walked Smith on four pitches. Lux’s sacrifice fly from Luke Weaver tied the game. Ohtani reached for catcher’s intervention, and Betts followed with another sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers their first lead.

Acquired by Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012.Two years later, the Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman from Tampa Bay to lead their baseball operations. He beefed up the front office with a plethora of analytics and performance science talent, and the property revenue brought in the money.

Last offseason, Los Angeles spent an unprecedented $1.25 billion on deals with Ohtani, pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. Most of the money represented future obligations that increased the Dodgers’ deferred compensation to $915.5 million due from 2028 to 2044.

Faced with injuries, the Dodgers acquired Flaherty, Edman and reliever Michael Kopech before the trade deadline, all of whom became important cogs in the title run. The additions boosted payroll to $266 million, third behind the Mets and Yankees, plus a projected luxury tax of $43 million.

NEXT

Los Angeles opens its spring schedule on February 20 against the Chicago Cubs at Camelback Ranch, and the Yankees start the next day against Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida.