2024 World Series

2024 World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers 98 - 64 in the NL	4 - 1 Series Summary	New York Yankees 94 - 68 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The 2024 World Series featured a glamorous marquee match-up, with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the New York Yankees. This was the 12th time the two franchises met in the World Series - the most frequent postseason match-up of any two teams - but the first since 1981 - before any of the players taking the field had been born. Back then the two teams had met three times in a five-year span, and fans outside the two cities were clearly tired of the repeated get-togethers ("The Dodgers and Yankees only play the regular season to find out who will have home field advantage in the World Series" was how one satirist put it), but it was much different this time. This was a match-up that everyone wanted to see.

Not only were the two teams the top finishers in their respective league - a distinct rarity since MLB added a second wild card team to the postseason mix - but they also featured the two consensus favorites for the MVP Award in Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, who also happened to have led their league in home runs. There were also five former MVP Award winners taking part, with Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Giancarlo Stanton, in addition to the two previously named, and another true superstar in Juan Soto (by almost all metrics, Ohtani, Judge and Soto had been the top three hitters in the majors that season). All in all, there was enough there to attract even the most casual of baseball fans - and television ratings for earlier rounds of the postseason had already reflected that. And that's not even counting the frenzy the Series would cause in Japan! On a sadder note, the Series opened just a few days after the passing of Fernando Valenzuela, one of the most charismatic players in Dodgers history, and still a Spanish-language broadcaster for the team; he had been one of the stars as a chubby 20-year-old in 1981, another reminder of how much time had gone by since.

The Dodgers dominated the series, quickly winning the first two games at home before taking a stranglehold with a Game 3 win in New York. In all of the games, the Dodgers' starting pitchers came up strong, and Freddie Freeman emerged as the star, by hitting a walk-off grand slam in extra innings in Game 1, and then homering in the next three as well. The Yankees avoided a sweep with a win in Game 4, when the Dodgers resorted to a bullpen game, but the Dodgers finished the job with a comeback win in Game 5, for their second title in five years. Freeman was deservedly named the winner of the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.

The Teams[edit]

Managers: : Yankees: Aaron Boone | Dodgers: Dave Roberts

Yankees After missing the postseason altogether in 2023, the Yankees had made one huge acquisition in the off-season, acquiring slugging OF Juan Soto via trade to provide some protection to team captain Aaron Judge, who was often the only threat in their line-up before that. The two had clicked immediately, with Judge hitting .322 with 58 homers and 144 RBIs, while Soto hit .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs. Teams had responded to the double threat by pitching around the two, as their 133 and 129 walks respectively bore witness, but they also both scored over 120 runs, so there was a downside to just walking them. Installed in the number 2 and 3 spots in the batting order, they formed a terrifying gauntlet for opposing pitchers. Filling out the other spots in the order had been more problematic: after various experiments, the Yankees had settled on 2B Gleyber Torres to lead off, and he had done well enough (.330 OBP with 80 runs) but a more prototypical lead-off hitter could have created chaos, and Torres had seemed to understand that in the postseason, just trying to get on base instead of trying to hit for power. The clean-up spot was another issue. Rookie catcher Austin Wells had occupied the spot late in the season, hitting .229 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs, but he had wilted under the pressure of the postseason, and DH Giancarlo Stanton and 3B Jazz Chisholm had replaced him at times. Stanton had had an underwhelming season by his standards, hitting .233 with 27 homers, but had found his stroke in the postseason, while Chisholm had taken to the Big Apple like a fish to water, hitting .273 with 11 homers in just 46 games, while learning a new position to boot. 1B Anthony Rizzo (.228 with 8 homers and 35 RBIs) was clearly on the downside of his career and coming off a serious hand injury that had forced him to miss the Division Series, while SS Anthony Volpe and LF Alex Verdugo, who normally occupied the final two spots in the order, were both inconsistent, but capable of doing damage when on a hot streak. The bench was pretty thin however.

On the pitching side, the Yankees were one of the few teams to enter the postseason with four healthy starters: Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41, after missing the first half of the season to an injury); Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.96); Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.85 also in a half-season) and Luis Gil (15-7, 3.50). Since then, Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.77) had been added to the World Series roster after a late-season injury, so the Yankees had actually more starters than they needed (without even counting Marcus Stroman). The bullpen was a lot thinner, however: Luke Weaver (7-3, 2.89) had done well since taking over the closer job from Clay Holmes (3-5, 3.14, 30 saves), but neither was a sure thing. After that, it got dicey, although Tommy Kahnle (0-2, 2.11) had pitched well, and Tim Hill (3-0, 2.05) was an effective LOOGY. But the more the Yankees could get from their starters, the better off they would be. Manager Aaron Boone was in his first World Series, but in the postseason for six times in seven years, so he was unlikely to be overwhelmed by the setting either - and he had also played in the Fall Classic.

Dodgers The Dodgers had made a number of acquisitions before the season, the principal being the signing of free agent DH Shohei Ohtani to a monster contract. Unable to pitch while recovering from Tommy John surgery, he had just completed a mind-boggling season with the bat, hitting .310 with 54 homers, 134 runs and 130 RBIs from the lead-off spot, and also stealing 59 bases while being caught only 4 times. The first player to have a 50-50 season, he was the most popular baseball player on the planet. Next came RF Mookie Betts, who had actually started the season playing SS just because the team had a hole there; he had missed time with a broken wrist but still hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs. Following him was 1B Freddie Freeman (.282, 22, 89) who was still hobbled by a bad ankle sprain and had had to miss some postseason games as a result. LF Teoscar Hernandez, another free agent signing, hit .272 with 33 homers and 99 RBIs principally as the clean-up hitter. The rest of the order was considered less fearsome, but it still featured some excellent hitters in 3B Max Muncy (15 homers and 48 RBIs in 73 games, and an OBP of .358) and C Will Smith (.248, 20, 75), and some players with a knack of contributing in the postseason, like Kiké Hernandez and Tommy Edman, who could both play the infield and the outfield. Another wild card was 2B Gavin Lux, once one of the most promising prospects in baseball, but limited to a .251 average with 10 homers and 50 RBIs during the season after missing all of 2023 to an injury. The Dodgers also had more depth than the Yankees, with seasoned veterans like Chris Taylor and Kevin Kiermaier, still an outstanding defensive outfielder, and young Andy Pages all available to help out in various ways.

The Dodgers' big Achilles heel was starting pitching. In effect, they had two-and-half starting pitchers: Jack Flaherty (6-2, 3.58 with L.A. and 13-7, 3.17 overall), a trading deadline acquisition who had become the team's ace by default; Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00), paid to pitch like an ace by still finding his footing in MLB; and Walker Buehler (1-6, 5.38), still working his way back from Tommy John surgery and only a shadow of what he had been back in the days of the 2020 World Series. In olden times, the Dodgers would have used an unproven youngster like Landon Knack (3-5, 3.65) for the fourth spot, and hoped for the best, but in this postseason, they had gone to a bullpen game every time that spot had come up. The reason for this weakened corps of starters was a very well appointed injured list featuring luminaries like Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Bobby Miller and others, not to mention Julio Urias, whose career had been brutally stopped by domestic violence allegations in 2023. Had those been available, the Dodgers would have been a juggernaut on the mound. Now however they had to rely on a very capable bullpen that featured a number of solid pitchers: Blake Treinen (7-3, 1.93); Daniel Hudson (6-2, 3,00, 10 saves); Evan Phillips (5-1, 3.62, 18 saves); Anthony Banda (3-2, 3.08); Michael Kopech (4-0, 1.13); and Ryan Brasier (1-0, 3.54). In addition, a trio of long men had given the team some good innings during the postseason. It consisted of Brent Honeywell, Ben Casparius and Enrique Hernandez; the latter two had only pitched three big league games each before the postseason, but had proved useful in spite of that very limited experience. Manager Dave Roberts was an old hand by now, being in his fourth World Series, and having won one in 2020, and also having been a member of the famous 2004 Boston Red Sox team that had broken that franchise's historic championship drought.

Umpires[edit]

Carlos Torres, Mark Carlson (crew chief), Doug Eddings, Mark Ripperger, Chad Fairchild, Todd Tichenor; Andy Fletcher joined the rotation as the home plate umpire in Game 2

Cory Blaser and James Hoye were the replay umpires

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	New York Yankees 3 Los Angeles Dodgers 6	October 25	Gerrit Cole (0-0) Jack Flaherty (0-0)	8:08 pm
2	New York Yankees 2 Los Angeles Dodgers 4	October 26	Carlos Rodón (0-1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0)	8:08 pm
3	Los Angeles Dodgers 4 New York Yankees 2	October 28	Walker Buehler (1-0) Clarke Schmidt (0-1)	8:08 pm
4	Los Angeles Dodgers 4 New York Yankees 11	October 29	Ben Casparius (0-0) Luis Gil (0-0)	8:08 pm
5	Los Angeles Dodgers 7 New York Yankees 6	October 30	Jack Flaherty (0-0) Gerrit Cole (0-0)	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	10	1
Dodgers	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	4	6	7	1
WP: Blake Treinen (1-0); LP: Jake Cousins (0-1)
Home Runs: NY - Giancarlo Stanton (1); LA - Freddie Freeman (1)

Attendance: 52,394

The most widely anticipated World Series in recent years ended in appropriately dramatic fashion when Freddie Freeman blasted a grand slam off Nestor Cortes in the bottom of the 10th inning, after the Yankees had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning. It was the first walk-off slam in series history, and featured a hitter bothered by an ankle injury who had only recorded his first extra-base hit of the postseason earlier in this game, and a pitcher making his first appearance of the series after being kept out of the previous two rounds by an injury. For every Dodgers fan, the hit was a reminder of the dramatic game-winning homer by Kirk Gibson in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

Before that iconic moment, an entire game was played. It started with a poignant pre-game ceremony in honor of Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela, who had passed away that same week, featuring his son Fernando Valenzuela Jr. and two former teammates, Steve Yeager and Orel Hershiser. On the mound, each team featured its best pitcher, Jack Flaherty for the Dodgers and Gerrit Cole for the Yankees, and both did well - a rarity in this postseason. Cole gave up just one run in six innings, while Flaherty went 5 1/3, giving up two. There were no surprises in the starting line-ups: Aaron Boone had decided in all logic to use his hottest hitter, Giancarlo Stanton, in the clean-up spot, while Dave Roberts stayed with the combination of Tommy Edman at SS and Kiké Hernandez in CF which had worked very well, even though SS Miguel Rojas was back on the roster. The Yankees put a couple of men on in the 1st, on a walk to Juan Soto and an error by Edman on a grounder by Stanton, but stranded them both. In the bottom of the inning, Freeman defied all odds by running out a triple, his first extra-base hit of the postseason, but he was also stranded there. The pitchers then settled down, and there wasn't much action on the bases until the bottom of the 5th, when Kiké Hernandez hit a triple with one out. Will Smith followed with a sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers had the first lead of the game.

The Dodgers' lead was quickly erased however. In the top of the 6th, Soto hit a lead-off single, then after a strikeout of Aaron Judge, Stanton continued his red hot hitting with a homer to left field, putting New York ahead, 2-1. That marked the end of Flaherty's night, as he was replaced by Anthony Banda. Getting the next two outs proved to be a bit complicated, as Banda gave up a single to Jazz Chisholm who then stole second. He struck out Anthony Rizzo, then Anthony Volpe was issued an intentional walk to bring up Austin Wells who singled, loading the bases. Alex Verdugo had a chance to do some serious damage, but he struck out, leaving the sacks full. In the bottom of the inning, Edman hit a lead-off double, but Cole then retired the top of the line-up in order. Brusdar Graterol, just activated for the Series, took over on the mound for the Dodgers in the 7th. In the bottom of the inning, Cole was still on the mound but gave up a single to Teoscar Hernandez and was replaced by Clay Holmes, who promptly hit Max Muncy with a pitch. Kiké Hernandez advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, but Smith popped up for the second out. Tommy Kahnle now came in to pitch, but Gavin Lux grounded out, and the opportunity had been wasted. Alex Vesia, another addition to the Dodgers' roster, handled the top of the 8th, then in the bottom of the inning, Shohei Ohtani doubled with one out and advanced to third base on an error by Soto in right field. That was the cue for Boone to call in his closer, Luke Weaver, but he couldn't keep Mookie Betts from hitting a sacrifice fly, and the game was tied, 2-2.

There was no scoring in the 9th, although the Dodgers used two pitchers, as Michael Kopech gave up a two-out double to Gleyber Torres after a call of fan interference (the fan reached over the railing to catch a ball that was clearly in play), after which he issued a intentional pass to Soto. Blake Treinen came out to face Judge and got him to pop up. For his part, Weaver retired the Dodgers in order. Then came the 10th inning. Chisholm singled with one out and stole second base, then after an intentional walk to Rizzo, he stole third base as well. He scored when Volpe hit into a force out. The Yankees had a 3-2 lead and just needed to retired the Dodgers in the bottom of the inning, but Weaver was done and they had to turn to one of their lesser relievers, in this case Jake Cousins. He got Smith to fly out for the first out, but then walked Lux. Edman followed with an infield single and both the potential tying and winning runs were on base. Boone than rolled the dice and brought in Cortes, normally a starter and out of action for a month, with the mission of facing Ohtani. He barely missed hitting the ball, but his fly ball was caught Verdugo in left, who then tumbled into the stands, advancing both runners. The Dodgers just needed a single now to win the game. With a base open, Boone elected to walk Betts in order to face Freeman. Nobody knows if Cortes could have retired Mookie, but what is known is that Freeman crushed Nestor's first pitch deep to right. He knew it was gone as soon as he hit it, and it landed at least ten rows deep for a no-doubt unprecedented walk-off grand slam.

Game 2 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Yankees	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	0
Dodgers	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	0
WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0); LP: Carlos Rodón (0-1); SV: Alex Vesia (1)
Home Runs: LA - Tommy Edman (1), Teoscar Hernandez (1), Freddie Freeman (2); NY - Juan Soto (1)

Attendance: 52,725

The Dodgers used the long ball to win Game 2, scoring all four of their runs on homers in the first three innings while getting a great outing from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In cruising mode after that, things almost fell apart in the final innings when, first, Shohei Ohtani suffered a shoulder injury on an unsuccessful stolen base attempt in the 7th, then when the Yankees mounted a comeback against closer Blake Treinen in the 9th, scoring a run and loading the bases before Alex Vesia came to the rescue to secure the win. On the mound, Yamamoto was squaring off against Carlos Rodón, who gave up just too many long balls for his own good in what was an abbreviated outing. The only change to the starting line-ups was that Miguel Rojas was back starting at shortstop for the Dodgers, with Tommy Edman moving back to CF and Gavin Lux was out of the line-up due to a lefthander starting the game.

Gleyber Torres led off the game by drawing a walk off Yamamoto, another sign that he was a more patient hitter in the postseason, but Yamamoto then retired the Yankees' modern-day version of Murderers Row - Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton - in order, and there was no damage. For his part, Rodón gave up a one-out single to Mookie Betts, but nothing else. In the 2nd, Yamamoto issued another walk, this one to Anthony Rizzo with one out, but again without consequences. However, the Dodgers then got on the board when Edman led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to left. The 3rd inning was the key one: the Yankees did manage to tie the game when, with two outs, Soto hit a homer to right field. It looked like anybody's game at that point, but little did anyone know that Yamamoto was done allowing baserunners. He would retire the next 11 batters in order before leaving the game to a standing ovation with one out in the 7th. For Rodón it was a different matter as the bottom of the 3rd turned into a nightmare after he retired Rojas and Ohtani to start things off. Betts followed with his second hit of the game, and Teoscar Hernandez then unleashed a long ball to right center field for a 3-1 lead. Next up came Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman and he did it again, working a full count and then launching another long homer to right field to make it 4-1. Edman followed with a double and stole third base, but Kiké Hernandez lined out to left to end the inning.

The next few innings were characterized by Yamamoto systematically mowing down the Yankees, who had to use their bullpen early as Rodón was replaced by Jake Cousins after striking out Max Muncy to start the 4th. To their credit, the Yankees' relievers did a good job as Cousins, Tim Hill, Clay Holmes and Mark Leiter Jr. all pitched at least an inning without allowing a run to keep the game close. In fact Cousins was the only one of the four to allow any hits: a double to the first batter he faced in the 4th, Will Smith and a one-out single to Teoscar Hernandez in the 5th. In the 7th, Yamamoto gave way to Anthony Banda, who recorded the final two outs, but in the bottom of the inning, Ohtani drew a walk against Holmes, and with two outs, attempted to steal second base to put himself in scoring position. Although he is normally one of the best base-stealers in the majors, something went badly wrong this time as he was thrown out by C Austin Wells and landed awkwardly on his left shoulder. He was in obvious pain, having suffered a partially dislocated shoulder, and that cast a pall on the ballpark. After the game, though, the Dodgers issued some good news, stating that exams of the injury were "encouraging".

Meanwhile, the game continued, with Michael Kopech retiring the Yankees in order in the 8th. The game was going exactly according to script for Dave Roberts, who could then bring out his closer Treinen to get the final three outs with a three-run lead. But that's when the cart nearly upended. Soto led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout of Judge, Stanton singled to score Soto, cutting the lead to 4-2. Jazz Chisholm then singled as well and Rizzo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Dodgers' saving grace was that it was now the bottom of the order due up, and the Yankees had few good options for pinch-hitting. Treinen managed to strike out Anthony Volpe for the second out in what was a key moment of the game, then with the lefty Wells coming up, Roberts turned to Vesia, which forced Aaron Boone to reply with a righty, back-up C Jose Trevino - not necessarily the hitter one would want with the game on the line, but there were no other palatable options available. Vesia got Trevino to hit a routine fly ball to Edman in center field to end the game. The Yankees had given the Dodgers a scare, but they still trailed two games to none as the two teams headed across the country to the Big Apple.

Game 3 @ New Yankee Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	5	0
Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	5	1
WP: Walker Buehler (1-0); LP: Clarke Schmidt (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Freddie Freeman (3); NY - Alex Verdugo (1)

Attendance: 49,368

The big question before Game 3 was whether Shohei Ohtani would be able to play, and that question was quickly answered as the Dodgers made positive noises on the off-day, and the Japanese superstar was at his familiar spot at the top of the line-up when the batting order was announced. The starters were Clarke Schmidt for New York, keeping to the spot he had taken in the ALCS, with Walker Buehler going for the Dodgers. His regular season record of 1-6, 5.38 was one of the worst ever for a World Series starter, but it did not mean much as he had plenty of postseason experience and had pitched well in his last start in the NLCS. As long as he gave his manager four decent innings, things would be fined. It turned out that he did much more.

The Dodgers quickly set the tone for the game when Ohtani drew a lead-off walk, then after a fly out by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman went deep to give them a quick 2-0 lead. Not only was it already Freddie's third homer in three games, but he had also homered in the final two games of the 2021 World Series for the Atlanta Braves against the Houston Astros, so it gave him a record five consecutive World Series games with a long ball. Buehler also issued a lead-off walk, to Gleyber Torres, but he did not give anything to the next three batters, and was on his way to an excellent outing. The Dodgers added a run in the 3rd, with things starting again with a lead-off walk, this one to Tommy Edman. He moved to second on a ground out by Ohtani and scored on a single by Betts, and it was now 3-0. Schmidt then loaded the bases with a pair of walk, and his night was done as he was replaced by Mark Leiter Jr. who got Will Smith to ground out. In contrast, Buehler was rolling, as he retired eighth batters in a row before issuing another walk to Torres with two outs in the 3rd, with no damage.

The Dodgers threatened again in the top of the 4th, as Gavin Lux led off with a single off Leiter, then moved to third on a single by Kiké Hernandez. However, Edman hit a tapper back to the pitcher, who threw out Lux at home for the first out, on a play that was close enough to require a video review. Nestor Cortes now replaced Leiter and he got the nxt two outs, resulting in five runners stranded by L.A. in the course of two innings, something that could have come back to haunt them. Giancarlo Stanton finally got the Yankees' first hit in the 4th, a one-out double, but Jazz Chisholm lined out to Betts for the second out. Anthony Volpe followed with a single, but the gimpy Stanton was thrown out at home, ending the threat and the inning. The Dodgers did score an insurance run in the 6th, with Jake Cousins now on the mound as the Yankees' fourth pitcher. He hit Lux with a pitch with one out, after which Lux stole second base and scored on a single by Kiké Hernandez, making it 4-0. Dave Roberts then called on his bullpen starting in the 6th, with Brusdar Graterol the first man summoned. With a bullpen game scheduled for Game 4, he did not want to overuse anyone, so he used four different relievers to get the six outs in the 6th and 7th innings, with Alex Vesia retiring Chisholm with two on and two outs to end the 6th. The Yankees also continued their parade of relievers, as they used seven in total, but the only run they gave up was the one allowed by Cousins in the 6th. For L.A., Ryan Brasier handled the 8th, handing the game over to Michael Kopech with a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 9th. The hard thrower walked Anthony Rizzo with one out and then uncorked a wild pitch before getting Austin Wells to pop up for the second out. With two strikes, he then challenged Alex Verdugo with a 98 mph+ fastball, but the Yanklees' number 9 hitter blasted it into the seats in right center to cut the lead to 4-2. Things could have gotten very tense at this point, but he then got Torres to ground out to end the game, as the tying run never reached the plate. The Dodgers were now one win away from the championship.

Game 4 @ New Yankee Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	6	1
Yankees	0	1	4	0	0	1	0	5	x	11	9	0
WP: Clay Holmes (1-0); LP: Daniel Hudson (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Freddie Freeman (4), Will Smith (1); NY - Anthony Volpe (1), Austin Wells (1), Gleyber Torres (1)

Attendance: 49,354

The Yankees had their backs to the wall in Game 4, battling to avoid being swept in a World Series for the first time since the Cincinnati Reds had pulled off the feat against them in 1976. Luckily for them, the Dodgers had no choice but to resort to a bullpen game, given their thin starting pitching, a strategy that had both succeeded and failed in spectacular fashion during this postseason. It was rookie Ben Casparius who was given the ball, after Ryan Brasier and Michael Kopech had assumed the role of opener at different times in previous rounds. For New York, it was the turn of 15-game winner Luis Gil to start and on paper, the match-up was extremely favorable to the Bronx Bombers. The game wasn't entirely straightforward, but it ended up obeying that scenario.

But first, the Dodgers once again started a game with a bang in the form of a two-run homer by Freddie Freeman, making a serious bid to be named the winner of the World Series MVP. Mookie Betts hit a double off Gil with one out and Freeman followed by parking a ball into the stands for the fourth straight game from the start of this series, and the sixth straight overall, both constituting new records. Teoscar Hernandez then followed with a single, but there was no more damage as the next two batters made outs. Casparius then walked Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in succession with one out in the bottom of the 1st, that out coming when two fans interfered with Betts' attempt to catch a foul ball down the right field line by grabbing his glove and wresting the ball from there, before being ejected. Casparius then got both Jazz Chisholm and Giancarlo Stanton to ground out, with Aaron Boone having flipped the two batters in his order in order to change his team's luck. Gavin Lux then led off the top of the 2nd with a double, but that inning ended when Tommy Edman lined into a double play. In the bottom of the inning, Anthony Volpe walked and stole second base with one out, but had to hold up when Austin Wells followed with a line drive to CF Kiké Hernandez; he just made it to third while Wells received credit for a double. He did score on a ground out by Alex Verdugo, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 2-1. The 3rd was the key inning, after Daniel Hudson replaced Casparius, who had done his job. He struck out Soto but hit Judge with a pitch before giving up a single to Chisholm. Judge went to third on the hit and Chisholm promptly stole second base. Hudson pitched around the dangerous Stanton, walking him to load the bases, preferring to take his chances against the bottom of the order. He got Anthony Rizzo to pop up with the infield fly rule being invoked, but local boy Volpe then had the biggest hit of his career, a no-doubt grand slam to left field which turned the game on its head. It was now 5-2, Yankees, and the locals were in the driver's seat.

In a perfect world, Luis Gil would have then settled down, given his team two or three more innings, and let the bullpen get the final few outs, but no one said it would be easy. Will Smith led off the 5th with a homer and Edman followed with a walk, forcing Boone to call on his bullpen earlier than he would have liked. Tim Hill came out to face Shohei Ohtani, one of the first lines on his job description as his team's designated LOOGY, but he gave up a single. Betts then forced Ohtani at second, but the Dodgers now had a runner at third with less than two outs. Hill came very close to forcing Freeman to ground into a double play, but his out at first was overturned after a video review, and Edman's run counted, making it 5-4. Clay Holmes then came out to record the final out,and the Yankees were once again using a lot of relievers, as they had done in Game 3. But, they still had the lead. They stranded a couple of baserunners against Landon Knack in the bottom of the 5th, and the tension was visibly rising, but Holmes calmed things down by retiring the Dodgers in the 6th, after which the Yankees scored an important insurance run on a solo homer by Wells off Knack, who would end up pitching four innings and giving up just that one run in a valiant effort to save more important arms for the next day. The Yankees did not really have that luxury: they had no choice but to use some of their best arms, so Mark Leiter Jr. and Luke Weaver both pitched as the 6-4 lead held for a couple of innings. The Dodgers next brought out Brent Honeywell, another of their second-tier relievers, for the 8th, but things went completely off track at that point. Volpe doubled with one out and Wells walked, then the two pulled off a double steal before everyone was safe on a fielder's choice hit by Alex Verdugo to 2B Lux. Gleyber Torres followed with a three-run homer that put the game completely away, and Judge even drove in another run before the inning ended. With a huge lead, Boone could sit down Weaver and ask probably the last man in the pecking order in his bullpen, Tim Mayza, to get the final three outs. By then, the Dodgers already had their minds focused on Game 5 and went down meekly in order. The Yankees had managed to live another day.

Game 5 @ New Yankee Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	2	0	7	7	0
Yankees	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	6	8	3
WP: Blake Treinen (2-0); LP: Tommy Kahnle (0-1); SV: Walker Buehler (1)
Home Runs: NY - Aaron Judge (1), Jazz Chisholm (1), Giancarlo Stanton (3)

Attendance: 49,263

The Dodgers won the eighth championship of their history by defeating the Yankees, 7-6, in Game 5, although it took no less than two comebacks to do so. With the two Game 1 starters back on the mound, there were only minimal changes to the starting line-ups, as this game was going to be decided by the best players available. For the Dodgers, Jack Flaherty had been up and down all postseason, seemingly alternating an outstanding start with a poor one, and unfortunately for him, this was a down day, as he only managed to record four outs before Dave Roberts had to turn to his bullpen. It became an all-hands-on-deck affair, with seven relievers taking the mound to stop the Yankees in their tracks after they had gotten off to a tremendous start. That's where the great effort by Landon Knack, who had given his manager four innings in a losing cause in Game 4, paid back, as his relievers were generally rested. For the Yankees, their defense let them down after they had done what they do best in the early innings - hit home runs. All five runs allowed by Gerrit Cole were unearned, but that doesn't mean that he was completely blameless even if he pitched into the 7th inning, as he allowed plenty of runners after breezing through the first four frames, and a failure to cover first base on his part played a key part of the Dodgers' big comeback.

Cole was at his best in the 1st, mowing down the Dodgers in order, and the Yankees got to work on Flaherty immediately. He got Gleyber Torres to ground out, but then walked Juan Soto, and as had happened countless times during the regular season, but not often enough in the postseason, Aaron Judge followed with a long ball hit very far to right field and it was 2-0. Next up was Jazz Chisholm, still in the clean-up spot after having switched places with Giancarlo Stanton before Game 4, and he homered as well, making it 3-0. Flaherty managed to retire the next two batters, but the Yankees were in a good place. After another 1-2-3 inning by Cole in the top of the 2nd, the Yankees were back at it against Flaherty, as Anthony Volpe led off with a double and went to third on a ground out by Austin Wells. Alex Verdugo then singled to make it 4-0, and that was it for Flaherty, whose only turn through the batting order had been awful. In came Anthony Banda who struck out Torres, but also threw a wild pitch, then walked Soto and Judge as well to load the bases. Chisholm could have delivered the knock-out punch at that early stage of the game but he grounded out to Freddie Freeman at first base, and the inning ended. The Dodgers' ninth batter, Gavin Lux, was the first man to reach base against Cole, drawing a walk, but Shohei Ohtani then flied out, before the Yankees could turn their attention to a new pitcher, Ryan Brasier. The first man he faced was Stanton, the Yankees' best hitter all postseason, and on Brasier's first pitch, he homered to right field to make it 5-0. At that point, it looked certain that the series would be returning to the West Coast in two days, even if Brasier did retire the next three batters.

Mookie Betts drew a lead-off walk in the top of the 4th, but Cole then retired the next three batters. He had yet to allow a hit at this point. Michael Kopech finally managed to record a goose egg for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 4th, but not without allowing a walk and a single, before Chisholm struck out, stranding two more batters. And then came the 5th inning, probably the key frame of the entire series. Kiké Hernandez finally got the Dodgers' first hit when he led off with a single after which Tommy Edman hit what looked like an absolutely routine fly ball to Judge in CF, but the big man inexplicably dropped it. Will Smith then hit a ground ball to SS Volpe, who tried to get the lead runner at third base - not the greatest of decisions - and then threw wildly as the bases were loaded, with still no one out. Cole almost managed to escape that situation however. Bearing down, he struck out Lux and then Ohtani, and got Betts to hit an easy grounder to 1B Rizzo - but he then forgot to cover first base, and what should have been the fifth out of the inning was ruled a single, with Hernandez scoring L.A.'s first run. Things then went from bad to worse as Freeman followed with another single - a clean one this time - driving in two runs. The comeback was now fully on, and Teoscar Hernandez followed with another crushing blow, a double to center that scored both Betts and Freeman, and the game was now tied after what should have been a completely harmless inning had the Yankees executed the routine outs that the Dodgers were giving them. After a walk to Muncy, Kiké, the man who had led off the inning, ended it by grounding into a force out. Still, the Yankees had an advantage, in that their starter was still on the mound, while the Dodgers were burning through relievers rapidly. Alex Vesia, who loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 5th, on a single, a hit batsman and a walk, before getting Torres to fly out to right, was already their fifth pitcher - and they would need to use a few more before this game was over. But the other developing story was that this was now the third inning in which the Yankees had stranded at least two runners, and this was not something positive.

Cole got back to being dominant in the top of the 6th, retiring the Dodgers in order and in the bottom of the inning, Brusdar Graterol committed the cardinal sin of walking the first two men he faced, Soto and Judge. But he also managed to limit the damage. He got Chisholm to ground into a force out, wiping out Judge, and Stanton to hit a sacrifice fly. That put the Yankees back in the lead, 6-5, but the threat of a big inning was almost gone, almost being the operative word. Graterol then walked Rizzo, his third free pass of the inning, and Roberts had no choice but to call on his closer, Blake Treinen, to prevent the Yankees from building another big lead. He got Volpe to ground out to end the threat, but using your closer in the 6th is never without consequences, and the Dodgers were staring at trouble. For his part, Aaron Boone knew this was Cole's final start of the year, no matter the outcome of this game, so he pushed him as far as he could. He retired the first two men in the 7th before walking Freeman. He had now made 108 pitches and even with the best will in the world, he had given all that he had in the tank. Boone now called on Clay Holmes, to set the table for closer Luke Weaver as his game plan was still valid, in spite of the horrendous 5th inning. Holmes walked Teoscar Hernandez, but he got Muncy on a called third strike, and there were now only six outs left to get. Meanwhile, Treinen pitched another inning, and retired the Yankees in order. In the 8th, Boone decided to replace Holmes with Tommy Kahnle, who had been a more effective pitcher during the postseason, as Holmes often looked to be one pitch away from disaster. It was a perfectly justifiable decision, but it did not work. Kiké Hernandez once again was the ignitor, leading off the inning with a single, and Edman followed with an infield single. Boone probably would have wanted to bring in his closer, Weaver, at that point, but Kahnle had to face one more batter and he walked Smith to load the bases. With no margin of error, Weaver came into the game and gave up a fly ball to Lux, caught by Judge, which scored Kiké Hernandez with the tying run and also advanced Edman to third. Ohtani was up next but reached base on catcher's interference, loading the bases again with Betts and Freeman to follow. Betts lifted another fly ball to Judge and Edman came in to score on the second sacrifice fly of the inning. For the first time in the game, the Dodgers had a lead. Weaver managed to strike out Freeman to keep this as a one-run game.

Roberts, having used all of his best relievers already, except for Daniel Hudson who had been battered the previous day, decided to leave Treinen in to pitch another inning. He got Soto to ground out, but Judge doubled. Chisholm then worked a walk and Stanton came up with a chance to do some significant damage, but he hit a routine fly ball to Betts in right field. Treinen then struck out Rizzo to end the inning, with another two runners stranded. The Dodgers threatened again in the top of the 9th against Weaver, as Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single and gave way to pinch-runner Chris Taylor. After a fly-out by Muncy, Weaver was charged with a disengagement violation, and Taylor moved to second, after which he walked Kiké Hernandez. Boone now replaced him with Mark Leiter Jr. who defused the threat by striking out Edman and getting Smith to ground out. So with the bottom of the 9th about to start, the Dodgers' lead was still only one run, and Treinen was definitely out of the game, having made 46 pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Roberts then decided to bring out his Game 3 starter, Walker Buehler to close the game. It was not an atypical decision for him, as in previous postseasons, he had used starters Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias to nail down a series win. Buehler was coming off his best game of the season and it was the bottom of the Yankees' order coming up - with very few pinch-hitting options available to Aaron Boone, as noted earlier. In a favorable situation, Buehler looked like he had been closing World Series games for his entire lifetime. He got Volpe to ground to first for the first out, then struck out Wells. The Yankees' last hope was Verdugo, but he could not extend the game, striking out as well to confirm the Dodgers as world champions.

Miscellaneous[edit]

While this title may have been the second one in five years for the Dodgers, for their fans, it felt like the first in decades, as their win under COVID-19 conditions in 2020 had felt incomplete, as the Series had been played at a neutral site and no championship parade was organized. This time was different and the victory parade in downtown Los Angeles on November 1st attracted a quarter of a million people - a remarkable achievement for a city as spread out as the L.A. metropolitan area, where the idea of joining together in a common place is a bit alien. The parade route went from City Hall to Dodger Stadium.

The marquee match-up had a lot to do with it, but television viewership numbers were outstanding compared to recent years, and international viewership numbers were through the roof, due in large part to an enormous amount of interest in Japan. Domestically, rating were the highest since 2017, when the entertainment landscape was much different - up 67% compared to the previous year's numbers. Most encouraging for MLB was that numbers among the young fans demographic - from 18 to 34 - were up over 100%. One can only imagine what they would have been had the series been close and had gone to the limit! Numbers in Japan were simply exceptional: Games 1 and 2 were the most watched in postseason history in the country, with the second game reaching some 15.9 million viewers - in spite of being staged at 9:00 AM local time. Other foreign markets like Canada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Taiwan also reported record numbers, for an average of 30 million global viewers per game, with not all markets being counted.

The value of a full postseason share for players on the winning team was $477,441, down slightly from the two previous years, because the Dodgers elected to give out 96.49 full share equivalents, well above the number for the previous year's series. The total postseason pool to be divided among participants established a record with a value of $129.1 million.