The Dodgers, who secured their seventh title since moving to Los Angeles, won the best-of-seven series 4-1 after a fifth-inning collapse from the Yankees.
“We just took advantage of every mistake they made in that inning and scored five runs,” left fielder Teoscar Hernandez said.
“The bullpen and the pitching staff gave us the chance to stay in the game. It’s a dream come true.”
The Yankees were in cruise control, racing to an early 5-0 lead to try to force a Game 6, but a barrage of errors from New York in the fifth helped the Dodgers tie the game.
The Yankees, on the brink of elimination, seemed ready for business from the get-go as back-to-back first-inning home runs by Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. put them 3-0 up in the opening period.
Alex Verdugo drove in Anthony Volpe in the second, and Giancarlo Stanton’s solo shot made it 5-0 to New York in the third.
New York’s shocking errors kicked in in the fifth, with Judge initially mishandling a routine catch in centre field in arguably the turning point of the game. Los Angeles loaded the bases with no outs, and runs from Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez helped them tie the game.
Giancarlo Stanton got the Yankees back in front in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, but the Dodgers were not going away as they hit two of their own to take a 7-6 lead.
Walker Buehler’s immaculate pitching in the ninth was the icing on the cake for Los Angeles as he retired all three Yankees batters to help the Dodgers hold on to their one-run lead and seal the title.
Freeman took home MVP honours after recording four home runs in the first four games and two drives in the deciding game as the National League (NL) champions, the Dodgers, claimed their second title in five years, having last won it in the 2020 season, which was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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