NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive errors and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6. in Game 5 Wednesday night.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased out Jack Flaherty in the second, and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer off Ryan Brasier gave the Washingtons a 5-0 lead. Yankees.

But errors by Judge at center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole’s failure to cover first on Betts’ grounder, helped Los Angeles score five runs undeserved in the fifth.

After Stanton’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice fly off Luke Weaver.

Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on-one game in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.

Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save.

“We’re obviously resilient, but there’s so much love in the clubhouse that won this game today,” Betts said. “That’s what it was. It was love, it was courage. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I’m just proud of us and I’m happy for us.

When Buehler struck out Verdugo to end the game, the Dodgers flocked to the field to celebrate between the mound and first base, capping a season in which they won 98 games and finished with the team’s best record. the regular season.

“There are a lot of ways to win baseball games,” Buehler said. “Obviously the superstars we have on our team and in the sport, it all adds up.”

Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record $700 million signing and the first baseball player to hit 50 home runs and 50 steals, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and singled after separating from the shoulder during a base stealing attempt in Game 2.

Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson in seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out away from losing Friday’s Game 1, Freeman scored a grand slam at the end of the match reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s home run. against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 opener that clinched the title for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers won their eighth championship and seventh since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles – their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season. matches and were unable to hold a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

These Dodgers of Ohtani, Freeman & Betts joined the Duke Snider and Roy Campanella Boys of Summer of 1955, the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale era that spanned the three titles from 1959 to 1965, the groups led by Tommy Lasorda from 1981 and 1988 and the Betts. and Clayton Kershaw champions of 2020.

Dave Roberts won his second championship in nine seasons as Dodgers manager, tying Lasorda and behind Walter Alston’s four. The Dodgers won for the fourth time in 12 series meetings with the Yankees.

New York has remained without a title since winning its record 27th in 2009. The Yankees acquired Juan Soto from San Diego in December, knowing he would be eligible for free agency after the 2024 postseason. The 26-year-old star has went 5 out of 16 with an RBI in the series before going into intensely watched bidding on the open market.

Judge finished 4 for 18 with three RBIs.

Cole didn’t allow a hit until Kiké Hernández singled in the top of the fifth. Judge, who an inning earlier had jumped the wall to deny Freeman an extra base hit, dropped Tommy Edman’s fly to center. Shortstop Anthony Volpe then bounced a pitch to third on Will Smith’s grounder, allowing the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs.

Cole struck out Lux and Ohtani, and Betts hit a grounder to Rizzo. Cole didn’t cover first, pointing at Rizzo to run toward the bag as Betts outran the first baseman.

Freeman followed with a two-run single and Teoscar Hernández hit a tying two-run double. Max Muncy walked before Kiké Hernández ran into a force out on Cole’s 48th pitch of the inning.

“We benefit from every mistake they made in this round,” said Teoscar Hernández. “We put together some good at-bats. We put the ball in play.”

Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice to Brusdar Graterol put the Yankees ahead 6-5, but the Dodgers rallied one last time in the eighth.

Kiké Hernández chose Tommy Kahnle first. Edman followed with an infield hit and Smith walked four pitches. Lux’s sacrifice fly flies off Luke Weaver and ties the score. Ohtani reached on catcher’s interference and Betts followed with another sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers their first lead.

Purchased by Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012, the Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman from Tampa Bay to run their baseball operations two years later. He beefed up the front office with a host of analytics and performance science personnel, and ownership provided the money.

Los Angeles spent an unprecedented $1.25 billion last offseason on deals for Ohtani, pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, as well as outfielder Teoscar Hernández. Much of the money was future obligations that brought the Dodgers’ deferred compensation to $915.5 million due from 2028 to 2044.

Facing injuries, the Dodgers acquired Flaherty, Edman and reliever Michael Kopech before the trade deadline, and all became important cogs in the title race. Those additions brought the payroll to $266 million, third behind the Mets and Yankees, plus a projected luxury tax of $43 million.