Dodgers overcome depleted pitching staff, nightmare Jack Flaherty outing to secure World Series

There was no punting away Game 5 for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were always destined.

One night after they failed to clinch a World Series victory at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers returned to the Bronx up 3-1 on the Yankees in the best-of-seven set, determined to put an end to the coast-to-coast series.

And they promptly fell behind.

Gerrit Cole no-hit Los Angeles through the first four innings while the Yankees scored five runs and chased starter Jack Flaherty from the game in the second inning. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts, who faced intense scrutiny for his management of the bullpen in Game 4, had to empty his already empty bullpen.

Ultimately, it proved to be nothing more than another hurdle for the Dodgers to overcome. A valiant comeback effort led them to a 7-6 win over the Bombers on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, and the title of World Series champions.

For the Dodgers to even get to the World Series with only three healthy starting pitchers was remarkable to begin with, but it looked as though the Yankees were going to win the pitching battle of attrition when Roberts was forced to empty his bullpen.

But then the Yankees gift-wrapped five runs in the fifth inning, making costly errors to load the bases with no outs. The Dodgers tied the game at five, went down 6-5 and then finally, tied the game again in the top of the eighth and pushed another across the plate to take a lead.

Aaron Judge, who finally had a signature World Series moment with a first-inning home run off Flaherty, had an easy play on a fly ball by Tommy Edman with one on and none out, but he closed his glove too soon and the ball bounced right off of it. Anthony Volpe nabbed a ground ball by Will Smith and tried to get the lead runner, but made a sloppy throw to third to load the bases.

Cole struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani and was nearly out of the inning unscathed until an error of sorts of his own. Mookie Betts hit one just beyond the first base bag to Anthony Rizzo, who was slow to make a play and Cole didn’t cover first. Betts was safe at first and Kiké Hernandez scored.

Then came Freddie Freeman, who snapped his home run streak but added two RBI to his World Series MVP resume with a two-run single. Teoscar Hernandez cleared the bases with a two-run double and the game was tied.

But it wasn’t easy from there. Brusdar Graterol couldn’t find the strike zone and the Yankees took the lead back in the sixth. Blake Treinen bent, but didn’t break in 2 1/3 innings. He was the only reliever left. The Dodgers sent Game 3 starter Walker Buehler to the bullpen.

Roberts had no choice but to manage for today and not Friday.

It was a nail-biter all the way through, but Buehler closed it out. In what was possibly his final time wearing the uniform of the team that drafted him, he retired the Yankees in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the second World Series title since 2020 for the Dodgers.

Without the super staff the team started the season with, the Los Angeles lineup carried them through. Ohtani, the best player in the world, disappeared in the series, failing to even record a hit. But the Dodgers won because they didn’t build a lineup around one player. They don’t rely on Ohtani or Freeman or Betts for the big hit. They constructed a roster that can win in a multitude of ways and a dynamic lineup that can run the bases, use all fields and play multiple defensive positions.

The super team was significantly weakened this month, and yet they’re still the last team standing.