The Los Angeles Dodgers are the new World Series champions. The LA team finished the job in Game 5 against the New York Yankees on the back of an impressive 7-6 comeback win, with first baseman Freddie Freeman getting the MVP honors.
After refusing to be swept and winning the Game 4, the Yankees seemed on track to get another lifeline. Fueled by homers from Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Giancarlo Stanton, they rushed to a 0-5 lead by the bottom of the fourth and looked in complete control.
Still, the Dodgers refused to go away. They used a series of unexplainable mistakes by the Yankees to orchestrate a blitz of five unearned runs at the top of the fifth.
Stanton made it 5-6 for the Yankees in the sixth with a sacrifice fly before Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux responded with sacrifice flies of their own to get the Dodgers on top. Ace Walker Buehler stepped up to take reliever duties for the LA team, pitching a perfect ninth inning to close out the game.
Freeman, who was bothered by an ankle injury before the playoffs, deservingly received the MVP honors. He won Game 1 for the Dodgers with a walk-off grand slam and then proceeded to hit homers in each of the following three games. He added a two-run single in Game 5 and tied the record for most RBIs in a World Series with 12.
The Dodgers claimed their first World Series since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and their eighth overall. It was a reward for a summer of heavy spending during which they spent more than $1 billion and brought in Japanese standout pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
The Yankees, on the other hand, failed to extend their record of 27 World Series wins. They are now facing a testy offseason in which they will have to revamp their roster and try to fend off suitors for upcoming free agent star Juan Soto.
