Takeaways from World Series Game 5: Dodgers lead Yankees for title

The Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions after winning a thrilling Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.

After trailing 5-0 early, the Dodgers took advantage of an errant fifth inning by the New York Yankees to tie the score before finally taking the lead in the eighth inning.

We've covered everything from live updates and analysis during the game to insights after the final pitch and our lasting impression of the Fall Classic triumph in LA.

Dodgers – from the stars to the supporting cast – are World Series champions

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Takeaways

Dodgers: There might have been more talented Dodgers teams at the time. There were definitely healthier ones. However, this one was the most persistent. And so perhaps it was fitting that on the night they won, the Dodgers overcame a five-run deficit and used eight relievers – one of whom was actually a starting pitcher – to get 23 outs in a come-from-behind game. Behind to secure a victory over the Yankees in Game 5. The last of these relievers was Walker Buehler, the Game 3 starter, who had performed poorly as a reliever throughout his career and it had been six years since his last appearance in the bullpen.

By the time Buehler took the mound in the ninth inning, the Dodgers had taken advantage of a litany of Yankees errors to score five runs off the dominant Gerrit Cole to start the fifth inning, and used consecutive sacrifice flies by Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts to take over in the eighth inning the lead for the first time. In the next half inning, a tiring Blake Treinen faced a two-on-one-out situation and emerged unscathed. Then Buehler came into the game and took out the bottom of the Yankees lineup one by one. In doing so, he secured the Dodgers' first championship since 2020 – and their first full-season title since 1988.

The 2024 Dodgers had several pitchers suffer season-ending injuries. The night they won the division title, Freddie Freeman sprained his ankle. The night they took a 2-0 lead in that World Series, Shohei Ohtani slightly injured his shoulder. They needed a bullpen game to save their season against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series and needed a Kirk Gibson-style walk-off grand slam from Freeman to win the opening game of that World Series to win. They have proven time and time again that they are up to any challenge. –Alden Gonzalez

Yankees: All year long, leading up to the American League Championship Series, the Yankees masked their penchant for sloppiness with overwhelming talent. They were the worst baserunning team in the majors during the regular season. They regularly made defensive errors. They generally weren't as solid as you would expect from such a good team. But the Yankees had superstars. They hit home runs. They outperformed talented teams.

Until they couldn't anymore.

Their inadequacies finally caught up with them in Game 5. A total collapse in the fifth inning, one that will be remembered as one of the worst in World Series history, cost the Yankees their season. Aaron Judge botched a routine flyout for his first fumble all year – regular season or postseason. Anthony Volpe couldn't make an accurate throw to third base. Gerrit Cole didn't cover first base, which would have amounted to an inning-ending groundout and opened the floodgates. From there, the Dodgers scored five runs to tie the game. Despite all this, the Yankees regained the lead, but squandered it again in the eighth inning.

It was that fifth inning that really cost the Yankees a chance to catch a flight to Los Angeles and continue their bid to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win the World Series. Their talent caught on against the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians in October. The Dodgers were too good for that to happen again. –Jorge Castillo

Lasting impression of this World Series: The 120th World Series ended with the Dodgers on the mound and the Yankees stunned by an all-time terrible fifth inning that allowed the Dodgers to win their eighth championship. The two-error frame, compounded by a mental error, will go down as one of the worst half-innings in Yankees history, turning a 5-0 lead into a 5-5 score. It also speaks to a series that was won on the sidelines.

The Dodgers scored 25 runs compared to the Yankees' 24. New York was an out-homer, an out-hit and an out-walker against Los Angeles. And yet the Dodgers convincingly won the World Series in five games because they were better in close contests. It took a walk-off grand slam in Game 1, two 4-2 wins (Games 2 and 3), and a 7-6 upset in Game 5, but the Dodgers didn't make any major mistakes, and the Yankees delivered give them one gift after another in the decisive game.

The battle of the super teams and superstars went to the Dodgers and Ohtani. He won his first World Series despite barely contributing. Freeman tormented the Yankees' pitchers in all series and was the clear MVP. Tommy Edman, acquired at the trade deadline, had another outstanding performance following his NL Championship Series MVP performance. Teoscar Hernandez was also a hit.

This is the Dodgers' second title in five years – and their first in a full season since 1988. They'll get even better with a bevy of pitchers returning. The Yankees, meanwhile, will have to grapple not only with the question of how they blew the lead in Game 5, but also whether Juan Soto – their best player of the entire postseason – will return as a jackpot awaits them in free agency . –Jeff Passan

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