Dodgers clinch World Series following Yankees meltdown

You have to hand it to Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees certainly did.

When New York let LA back into game five of baseball's World Series, the star-studded Dodgers did what they've done all year - kept on going and finished.

After taking advantage of three miscues to erase a five-run, fifth-inning deficit during one of the most memorable mid-game meltdowns in baseball history, the Dodgers rallied on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth to beat New York 7-6 on Thursday (AEDT).

That gave the Dodgers the series, four games to one.

"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 grit. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I'm just proud of us and I'm happy for us."

Game five had everything, including an unusual interference call on Yankees catcher Austin Wills in the eighth inning that put Ohtani on base.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for New York. Alex Verdugo's RBI single piled on the pain for LA starting pitcher Jack Flaherty in the second, and Giancarlo Stanton's third-inning homer built the Yankees' 5-0 lead.

But errors by Judge in center, after he had taken an outstanding catch in the fourth, and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.

Cole had not allowed a hit until the Dodgers ran amok in that inning.

"This is going to sting forever," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I'm heartbroken."

After Stanton's sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against losing pitcher Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.

LA reliever Blake Treinen pitched his way out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth, with two men on base and only one out, to earn the win.

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

When Buehler struck out Verdugo to end the game, the Dodgers poured onto the field to celebrate, capping a season in which they won 98 games and finished with the best regular-season record.

With several thousand Dodgers fans remaining in a mostly-empty stadium, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred presented the trophy on the field.

Ohtani, the Dodgers' record-setting $700 million signing and baseball's first 50-homer, 50-steal player, hit two for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his left shoulder during a stolen base attempt in game two.

Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the series record of 12 RBIs and was voted the most valuable player from the five games.

With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday's series opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson's iconic homer off Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1988's game one, that sparked Los Angeles to the title.

The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles - their first in a non-shortened season since '88.

They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn't have a parade because of COVID-19.

These Dodgers of Ohtani, Freeman and Betts joined the 1955 Duke Snider and Roy Campanella Boys of Summer, the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale era that spanned the three titles from 1959-65, the Tommy Lasorda-led groups of 1981 and '88 and the Betts and Clayton Kershaw champions of 2020.

Ending a season that started with a gambling scandal involving Ohtani's interpreter, Roberts won his second championship in nine years as Dodgers manager. The Dodgers won for the fourth time in 12 series meetings with the Yankees.

New York remain without a title since their record 27th in 2009.

Los Angeles went on an unprecedented $1.25 billion spending spree last offseason on deals capped by the signing of Ohtani. Much of the money was future obligations that raised the Dodgers' deferred compensation to $915.5 million owed from 2028-44.

- with AP