Dave Roberts had already burned down his bullpen, leaving himself with very few options as he tried to get the Los Angeles Dodgers across the finish line.

The manager had used six relief pitchers over the first eight innings of Game 5 thanks to Jack Flaherty’s mediocre startand that was 24 hours after I used four of them in the fourth game. The New York Yankees were knocking on the door before the bottom of the ninth, and Roberts needed someone to step up and help the Dodgers maintain their 7-6 lead.

With no reliable relievers left to turn to, Roberts settled on a starter – Walker Buehler.

Buehler, who won game 3 On Monday, he suddenly had the weight of an entire franchise on his shoulders with a day off. The 30-year-old right-hander made the most of this great moment and thus consolidated his place in baseball history.

After forcing Anthony Volpe into a groundout, Buehler struck out Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo. This earned Buehler his first save since 2017 – while he was still in Triple-A – as well as the second championship ring of his career.

“I felt like I weighed about 5 pounds,” Buehler said. “I wish I was in better shape so my heart could handle the situation better, but it worked.”

Buehler became only the eighth pitcher to earn a win as a starting pitcher and a save in the same postseason, since saves became official in 1969, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. He is the fourth to do so in the World Series.

Madison Bumgarner was the last to achieve this feat, with the San Francisco Giants in 2014. Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter did it with the Oakland Athletics in 1974, while Jack Billingham did it with the Cincinnati Reds in 1972.

Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-2022 and ultimately missed the entire 2023 campaign. He did not return to the big league pitching staff until May 2024, and he only got ‘went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA, 1.553 WHIP and -1.3 WAR in 16 regular season starts while healthy.

In the postseason, however, Buehler returned to his pre-injury form. He went 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.133 WHIP in October, so it was only fitting that he was able to close things out for the Dodgers.

Buehler is expected to become a free agent this winter. Considering everything he’s done for Los Angeles over the past nine years – especially on Wednesday night – he’s become legendary in the Dodgers history books, no matter what happens next.

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