Championship games are what every baseball player dreams of playing in, and this year the two powerhouse teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, both first in their respective leagues, met up as the spotlight for the baseball world. Full of stars for each team, this series had a lot of hype coming in, and it most definitely did not disappoint with multiple thrilling moments.
Game 1: A Walk-Off for the Ages
From the onset, the pitching duel between Jack Flaherty and Gerrit Cole defined the opening stages of the series. The high stakes did not ignite offensively at first, as Flaherty was able to go for 5 ⅓ innings, surrendering only a two-run shot to the blazing hot Giancarlo Stanton, while Cole allowed just one run on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith across more than six innings of work. Without much action happening from hitters at the plate, the Dodgers were still trailing down 2-1 entering the eighth inning. Mookie Betts for the Dodgers was about to have a clutch hit sacrifice fly to bring in Shohei Ohtani to tie the game heading into the last inning. With a crazy start to the top of the ninth, Gleyber Torres skied a ball to deep left field, looking to be a go-ahead home run, until a fan reached out over the wall to interfere, resulting in fan interference leading to a ground-rule double instead. The Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen was able to retire Aaron Judge on a popup to head into the bottom half of the inning. Without the Dodgers able to get anything going in the last inning, this game was already headed into a classic, entering extra innings. The Yankees were able to have runners in the corners when Anthony Volpe was able to bring in a run on a fielder’s choice that was out of reach for the second baseman, Tommy Edman, to make a play on it. For the Dodgers in the bottom of the 10th, they were unable to get runners on for Mookie Betts, who was intentionally walked to load the bases, giving Freddie Freeman a chance to produce. The lefty Nestor Cortes came in for the left-on-left matchup with Freeman to try and put this game away with two outs. However, Freeman was ready for the first pitch as he belted a ball way back into the right field bleachers for a walk-off grand slam to win the first game of the series. 36 years from the magical moment of Kirk Gibson’s miraculous walk-off homer with his hurt ankle, Freeman provided fans with the swing of a lifetime as magic filled the air in Los Angeles.
Game 2: Dodgers Dominate Despite Ohtani Injury
Entering the second game in LA, the Dodgers had the momentum coming off a thrilling comeback win. The young phenom Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was signed to a massive deal in free agency, was given the ball to start off against Carlos Rodon. He did an incredible job of putting away hitters and silencing the Yankees lineup for 6 ⅓ innings, conceding only a solo shot to Juan Soto. The Dodgers’ offense kept rolling, with Tommy Edman starting the scoring off for the Dodgers with his own solo homer. Teoscar Hernandez broke out for an opposite-field two-run bomb, and Freeman continued his scorching form with a solo homer to give the Dodgers a 4-1 advantage. In the bottom of the 7th, the joy in Dodger Stadium turned to concern when Shohei Ohtani hurt his wrist while attempting to steal second base, forcing him out of the game. Despite this setback, the Dodgers’ bullpen remained unshakable. After allowing an RBI single to Giancarlo Stanton, Alex Vesia came in to close out the game, lifting the Dodgers to another victory at home. With the Yankees trailing in the series down 2-0, they would have a lot of work to do.
Game 3: Pitching and Defense Shine for LA
With the series shifting to New York, the Yankees would have their work carved out for them with their offensive slump. This would not do much for the Yankees offense again as they struggled to get anything going. Walker Buehler for Los Angeles would look to keep the Dodgers on oath to a World Series victory as his counterpart, Nestor Cortes. The same story as what has developed previously continued as Freddie Freeman once again did his thing, smacking another home run to give the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead. On top of this to add on for the Dodgers, Mookie Betts lifted a soft base hit into right field in the top of the 3rd to make a 3-0 lead. The Dodgers were able to retain this lead after some great defensive plays by Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández, who was able to throw Stanton out at the plate, attempting to score. Through Walker Buehler’s 5 innings of work, his performance was top-notch, not allowing any runs on two hits and five strikeouts. Nestor Cortes, however, was knocked around a little after giving up three runs in five innings of pitching as well. Once again, the pitching for LA would prove to be key in this series by shutting down New York’s offense. Kike Hernandez lined a ball into center field, scoring Gavin Lux to make it a 4-0 game. The 9th inning brought a little nervousness for Dodgers fans as Michela Kopech came into the game to try and finish the job. After allowing a walk and wild pitch, Alex Verdugo got a hold of one and lifted it deep into the night sky. With two outs for the Yankees to try and rally against, they weren’t able to get any more baserunners, and Gleyber Torres grounded out to end the game. In a series that was supposed to be back and forth the entire time, there did not appear to be that kind of turnout, as the Yankees were on the verge of being swept on the brightest stage.
Game 4: Yankees Battle Back
Desperate to snag a win to fight off elimination, the Yankees were going to have to pull off the greatest comeback in sports history. Luckily for them, the bats finally decided to wake up in this game, which is the fuel for the fire that New York really needed. Before this was able to happen, though, the red-hot Freddie Freeman started the game off the exact same way as the night before with a two-run shot. Freeman had now homered in every game of the series so far and was looking to do even more damage. The Dodgers in this game would turn to their bullpen to try and save some starting pitching for later in the series by not trying to rush anything. This opened the door for the Yankees to tee off and expand on this, trying to break out of an offensive spurt. After an RBI groundout by Lex Verdugo to cut the lead to 2-1, the young shortstop Anthony Volpe had the big swing the Yankees had been looking for with a grand slam into left field to give them a 5-2 lead. Luos Gill for New York was only able to last 4 innings after getting hit around quite a bit after LA was able to scratch across two more runs after a Will Smith solo homer and a Freddie Freeman RBI groundout. With New York now with a 5-4 lead, they were looking to add on for some insurance, and that’s exactly what they were able to do with an Austin Wells homer and another fielder’s choice by Verdugo to make it 7-4. The Yankees weren’t done yet, though, because in the bottom of the 8th, Gleyber Torres hit a three-run home run to move the game out of reach at 10-4. Aaron Judge, who had been quiet all series, added on one more with his own RBI single, stretching the lead to 11-4. New York’s reliever Tim Mayza came into the top of the 9th to retire the Dodgers in order, forcing a much-needed Game 5, with New York having the momentum coming into it.
Game 5: Dodgers Seal the Deal in Stunning Fashion
Back in New York for a third game, the Yankees had to keep their mojo in order to continue competing for a championship. Things were looking great on the side of the Yankees because they had their ace, Gerrit Cole, out there to help do whatever he could to extend their season. Right out of the gate with the same pitching matchup as Game 1 with Jack Flaherty on the mound for the Dodgers headlined this game. Unlike in his Game 1 start, where he was dominant, Flaherty allowed a two-run homer to Aaron Judge, who finally decided to show up in a bright spot after being silenced the entire series. Following this up in the next at-bat by Jazz Chisholm Jr. was another home run, which grew the lead for the Yanks to 3-0. Flaherty would continue to get batted around after allowing another run on an Alex Verdugo base hit. Giancarlo Stanton would also get involved in the bottom of the 3rd with a solo shot into the corner of right field. The Dodgers would be on the back of their heels the rest of the game, and they needed to get a rally started from somewhere. This happened in the top of the 5th inning for them, as this inning would end up haunting Yankees fans for the rest of their lives. Disastrous fielding by the Yankees led to keeping the inning alive after Aaron Judge dropped a routine fly ball, and Anthony Volpe spiked one into the ground on a throw to third base. Mookie Betts would cash in on a slow grounder to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was in no hurry to beat him to the bag. Betts would get to first before Rizzo could, along with the help of Cole not running over to cover the bag to make it 5-1. This started a meltdown for the Yankees as Freddie Freeman singled into center field to score two more, making it 5-3. Then it brought up Teoscar Hernandez, who delivered a two-run double into center field to tie the game up. After all the offense the Yankees had, the whole game was wiped out just like that in a blink of an eye after a disappointing performance defensively. Gerrit Cole would stay in the game until the 7th inning to hold Los Angeles at five runs. Giancarlo Stanton was able to bring home one with a sacrifice fly to put New York back on top. The 8th inning was when Gavin Lux hit a game-tying sac fly, followed up with Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly to give them the lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. Blake Treinen would strand a leadoff double by Judge, retaining the lead at 7-6 entering the final inning. After a scoreless 9th by LA, the Yankees were down to their final three outs. Just when you thought New York could put together a nice inning, they were put down in order by the starting pitcher Walker Buehler to hand the Dodgers a World Series victory. It was a scene in New York where the players and fans were stunned at the catastrophic display in the final inning. After the brilliant performance all series by Freddie Freeman, he was awarded World Series MVP, which was well deserved.
After witnessing a historic series, fans were ecstatic. New York Yankees fan Carter Collins (11) stated, “I believe it was due to having home field advantage to begin the series, and it came down to the pitching.” He also added, “Though the Yankees had okay pitching throughout the year, the Dodgers sustained a score-pitching rotation. It also came down to offensive production for the Yankees core players, who couldn’t live up to the hype in the biggest games of their lives.”
Another Yankees fan, Colton Weis (11), emphasized the idea that the Dodgers were able to take control in this series, stating, “They didn’t give games away that would give the Yankees opportunities to win the game.
Dodgers fan Nathan Cheek’s (11) opinion about the outcome differed from his peers. He said, “They had a great team and a good coach who put a good lineup every night and picked the best players to come in from the bullpen, and they were just more relaxed than the Yankees.”
With the Dodgers winning this series 4-1 against the Yankees, they were able to capture the second World Series in the past four years. Some may say that was a fluke of a championship year because of the COVID-shortened season. This was their first full-season World Series title since 1988.