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All the detrimental comparisons to the Nineties Atlanta Braves and the devaluing of a World Sequence title received throughout the pandemic-shortened 2020 season are not any extra.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are World Sequence champions in 2024.
In some ways, this appears like long-awaited vindication for a workforce that has spent greater than a decade dominating for 162 video games, just for their season to finish in disappointing vogue time and time once more in October.
Detractors will nonetheless wish to level to the free-spending nature of the Dodgers group, however it was their potential to do all of the little issues proper that pushed this workforce excessive of their 7-6 Recreation 5 win in opposition to the New York Yankees.
It definitely did not seem like the Dodgers can be popping champagne when the Yankees constructed a 5-0 lead after three innings behind residence runs from Aaron Decide, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton.
Absolute Chaos in High of the fifth Inning
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Whereas the Yankees offense was clicking, Gerrit Cole was additionally in full management on the mound by means of 4 innings, retaining the high-powered Dodgers offense out of the hit column whereas needing simply 49 pitches to document the primary 12 outs of the sport.
Then got here a fifth inning for the ages.
Here is the complete play-by-play of an inning Yankees followers shall be serious about all offseason:
- Enrique Hernández single
- Tommy Edman protected on error by Aaron Decide
- Will Smith protected on fielder’s alternative error by Anthony Volpe
- Gavin Lux strikeout
- Shohei Ohtani strikeout
- Mookie Betts infield RBI single (Cole did not cowl first base)
- Freddie Freeman two-run single
- Teoscar Hernandez two-run double
- Max Muncy stroll
- Enrique Hernández fielders alternative
With that, a 5-0 lead evaporated right into a 5-5 tie, and Cole went from wanting unhittable to laboring by means of a 38-pitch inning full of high-stress pitches.
OptaSTATS @OptaSTATS
That is the second time in MLB postseason historical past a workforce blew a 5+ run lead in a single inning with all the runs being unearned.
The opposite was additionally within the World Sequence, additionally with the Yankees pitching and likewise with the Dodgers batting (2nd inning in Recreation 2 in 1956).
It was the perfect storm of mental mistakes and clutch hitting to give away what looked like a clear path to forcing Game 6 back in Los Angeles. The Dodgers’ advantage in postseason experience was never more evident than in their ability to claw back into a lopsided game while their opponent folded under the pressure.
The Yankees took the lead back with a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly, but the momentum never left the Dodgers dugout. In the top of the eighth, they took the lead for good on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Bets.
It is now the largest comeback ever in a World Series clinching game.
Dave Roberts Proves He’s a Great Manager
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Deadline pickup Jack Flaherty was thrust into the role of de facto staff ace for the Dodgers playoff run when Tyler Glasnow hit the injured list down the stretch and Clayton Kershaw was unavailable. His performance had been a mixed bag all October.
He threw gems in Game 1 of the NLCS (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER) and Game 1 of the World Series (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER), but was shelled vs. the New York Mets a second time in Game 5 (3.0 IP, 8 H, 8 ER) and suffered a similar fate on Wednesday night.
The 29-year-old recorded just four outs, allowing four hits and four earned runs. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was forced to mix and match for the final 23 outs of the game.
- Anthony Banda: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- Ryan Brasier: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
- Michael Kopech: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- Alex Vesia: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
- Brusdar Graterol: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
- Blake Treinen: W, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Walker Buehler: SV, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
He trusted closer Blake Treinen to throw a season-high 42 pitches over 2.1 scoreless innings. He pitched out of a jam that Brusdar Graterol got into in the sixth, went 1-2-3 in the seventh and gutted out an eighth inning where the tying run was in scoring position.
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Dave Roberts on deciding to leave Treinen in the game.
” I wanted to slow the game down a little bit. I looked in his eyes. He said I want it. I trusted him.” pic.twitter.com/GrgwteoSd2
He then put the ball within the fingers of Recreation 3 starter Walker Buehler to get the ultimate three outs, regardless of an inconsistent season from the previous frontline starter getting back from Tommy John surgical procedure. He struck out two of the three batters he confronted and wanted 16 pitches to nail down the save.
Even wanting again to Recreation 4, Roberts made the clever determination to let Landon Knack and Brent Honeywell absorb innings in a lopsided loss, preserving all of his high arms when he wanted each considered one of them.
It is easy to shine a lightweight on the supervisor when these pitching choices do not work out, and Roberts has been on the mistaken finish of that highlight up to now when the Dodgers have come up brief, however this was a grasp class from the supervisor’s seat.
The World Sequence champions used a bullpen sport as an alternative of a No. 4 starter all postseason to combined outcomes, however when an surprising bullpen sport was thrust upon him in Recreation 5, he did not flinch.
Redefining the Dodgers Legacy
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The Dodgers have received the NL West title 11 instances up to now 12 years, and whereas this was their fourth journey to the World Sequence throughout that stretch, it was their first Fall Basic win outdoors of the abridged 2020 season.
That title did not include the standard celebration and parade, and haters extensively interpreted it as much less useful than a full-season title.
The similarities to the Atlanta Braves groups that received 14 straight division titles within the Nineties and 2000s however solely received one World Sequence throughout that span have been all too straightforward to make, however that narrative is lifeless.
The frustration had been particularly biting the final two seasons earlier than this yr’s title run.
The 2022 Dodgers have been a runaway freight prepare throughout the common season, successful 111 video games and posting a ridiculous plus-334 run differential, however they have been dispatched by the rival San Diego Padres in 4 video games within the NLDS.
They once more reached 100 wins final season, solely to fall to a different NL West foe within the Arizona Diamondbacks, who swept them in three video games after rising from the Wild Card Spherical.
That disappointment served because the leaping off level for a spending spree that eclipsed $1 billion throughout the offseason, however it was the strikes made on the perimeter of the roster that had simply as massive of an affect throughout the playoffs.
From deadline pickup Tommy Edman successful NLCS MVP to the fastidiously assembled reduction corps shouldering a big load all through the playoffs, all of the items fell into place for this yr’s Dodgers workforce to lastly climb to the highest of the baseball world.
On the flip aspect, Shohei Ohtani and his $700 million contract have been largely non-factors within the World Sequence. He went 2-for-19 with one extra-base hit and 0 RBI, clearly slowed by a shoulder damage he suffered in Recreation 2. Slugger Max Muncy (0-for-16, 10 Ok) was additionally a non-factor.
With a stacked roster, cash to spend, and Ohtani set to return to the mound in 2025, the thought of a repeating feels very potential, as this might conceivably be a fair higher workforce subsequent yr.
Each dynasty has to start out someplace.
Now it is as much as the Dodgers to proceed to fulfill even loftier expectations as they set their sights on their twelfth NL West title in 13 years and one other title run in 2025.
