By Jack Nevins
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their eighth World Series title in franchise history and their first since 2020 on Wednesday night after coming back from a five-run deficit to make it a complete ending to their season. The second New York let LA back into the game, they did what they have done all season– they kept pushing. The Yankees started the series down 3-0, but with a win Tuesday night in the Bronx, 11-4, this gave them hope for the next game at home on Wednesday. After starting the game up 5-0, New York would look to complete the greatest comeback in sports history and the first MLB team to win a World Series after starting down 3-0 in the series. Being up 5-0 in Game 4 gave the Yankees some light at the end of the tunnel, but that lead did not last for long.
The Dodgers trailed 5-0 after four innings because of the hot bats of the Yankees. Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisolm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, for the first time since 1977 when Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson did it. Giancarlo Stanton hit another out of the park in the third to take a 4-0 lead, but after this the game shifted gears.
The fifth inning silenced the Yankee crowd. With a runner on first, Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman hit a line-drive to center field, and Aaron Judge failed to haul it in, causing the first error of the inning. Dodger catcher Will Smith then hit a ground ball to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe who attempted to get the force out at third but threw the ball in the dirt and Chisolm could not make the play, causing yet another error. To close out the nightmare of an inning, Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts hit a grounder to Anthony Rizzo, but Gerrit Cole did not cover the bag, which resulted in a run for LA. With two outs, Freddie Freeman singled to right to drive in two runs, cutting the lead to 5-3. This led to a Teoscar Hernandez double to center to tie the game 5-5.
The Yanks took the lead again in the sixth, 6-5, off a Stanton sac-fly, but this lead was short-lived. Sac-flies from Lux and Betts gave the Dodgers their first lead of the game in the top of the eighth. Judge then doubled to left where Chisholm followed up with a walk. The momentum was shut down once Stanton flew out and left Rizzo standing in the box after striking out.
Both teams showed different emotions after the game with the Dodgers manager saying to Dodger fans in Yankee Stadium “Yeah! Who wants a parade?!” Mookie Betts was confident in his team and even felt like they could get it done back in March during spring training “In spring training this is what we said we were going to do and we did it.” On the other hand, Aaron Boone and the Yankees were devastated by this loss, as any team would be after losing the World Series, “This is going to sting forever…I’m heartbroken.”
Not only are the Yankees heartbroken with this loss, but after only having Juan Soto for one year on the squad, he is ready to take his talents to a new team, and may not be in the Yankee pinstripes anymore. “I’ll be open to listen to every single team,” Soto said. “I don’t have any doors closed or anything like that, so I’m going to be available to all 30 teams”.
A tough loss in the Bronx on Wednesday night will leave the organization and the fans in shock and devastation, as they will look to get back at it next season.
