Dodgers top Yankees in Game 5 to win World Series

It’s over.

Walker Buehler was called on for the chance to close the series, and looked the part doing it.

Buehler first faced Anthony Volpe, and he got Volpe to ground to third on a knuckle curve. Austin Wells was next, and after battling the count full, Buehler got him on a nifty breaker to get the second out.

That made Alex Verdugo the last hope for the Yankees, and Buehler ended it with a strikeout to the former Dodger.

This was a blast, and congrats to both teams. I know Yankees’ fans probably don’t wanna hear it, but reaching a World Series is very cool. I’m a Mariner fan. It may never happen.

Thanks so much for following along.

Teoscar Hernandez roped a single, and was pinch-ran for with Chris Taylor taking over. Max Muncy finally hit a baseball hard — finally hit a baseball, if we’re being honest — but it found the glove of Juan Soto.

Luke Weaver lost count of his engagements — a weird thing to type — and after throwing over to first, Chris Taylor was awarded second base. Enrique Hernandez was able to work a walk, and Weaver was pulled in favor of Mark Leiter Jr.

Tommy Edman worked the count full against Leiter Jr., but then the hurler threw a nasty curveball to strike Edman out. A nifty play by Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third ending the inning, and we head to the ninth with Walker Buehler attempting to close out the World Series for the Dodgers. Hang on to your hats.

Juan Soto couldn’t beat out a ground ball to first for the first out off Blake Treinen. Aaron Judge had another quality at-bat and the outfielder picked up yet another extra-base hit with a liner over the glove of Max Muncy.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on a five-pitch free pass to bring up Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton got a pitch to hit in the middle of the plate, but he popped out to Mookie Betts for the second out. And with Anthony rizzo at the dish, Treinen saved maybe his best pitch for last.

We head to the ninth, the Dodgers lead 7-6, and I’m having a good time. No rooting interest, just loving the baseball. I hope you are loving the baseball, too.

We’ve got a new ball game. Again.

With the base load and no one out, Gavin Lux was able to push a run across on this sac fly to Aaron Judge.

That brought up Ohtani against Austin Wells, and the ever-so-rarely called catcher’s interference put Ohtani at first and loaded the bases for Mookie Betts, and Betts gave the Dodgers the 7-6 lead on this flyout to Judge.

Weaver was able to get Freddie Freeman on to strikeout, but the Dodgers are now six outs away from clinching a title.

Tommy Kahnle entered for the Yankees, and Enrique Hernandez sat on a change and lined it into left. Tommy Edman also singled despite a terrific stop by Anthony Volpe to put runners on first-and-second with no one out. Will Smith then drew a walk where Kahnle wasn’t close, and it loaded the bases for Gavin Lux and chased Kahnle for Yankees’ closer Luke Weaver.

This is getting tense.

There are hitters of a much-higher profile who have struggled in this World Series, but Max Muncy’s issues are not helping the Dodgers.

The 0-for-15 is one thing, the fact that he’s struck out in 12 of those at-bats is another. One wonders if the Dodgers might consider moving him down in the lineup; especially with Carlos Rodon on the mound for the Dodgers.

Blake Treinen was able to hold the Yankees off the bases, so we head to the top of the eighth with the score 6-5 Yankees. Terrific baseball game.

Turns out Gerrit Cole wasn’t done.

Cole came out to start the seventh, and while Shohei Ohtani hit the ball hard, it didn’t leave the infield and he was thrown out at first base. Mookie Betts was next, and Cole fielded a chopper cleanly to retire the former MVP. Freddie Freeman drew a walk on five pitches, and Cole exited to a nice ovation.

Cole threw 108 pitches while not allowing an earned run — a little misleading since his not covering first base on the Betts’ grounder opened the floodgates — and the Yankees will hope they can hold the lead, win Game 6 and use him in relief during Game 7.

Clay Holmes has entered the game in Cole’s place.

Cole bounced back nicely in the sixth with a 1-2-3 inning. That puts him through six innings while allowing five runs, but none of them are earned because of the defensive miscues. He’s thrown 98 pitches — 71 for strikes — and is likely done for the evening.

The Dodgers turned to Brusdar Graterol to face the middle of the order. Juan Soto drew a leadoff walk because of course he did; that’s his third walk of the game for the not-so-free swinger. Aaron Judge had a terrific at-bat against Graterol, and ended it with a free pass of his own.

Jazz Chisholm grounded out to second to put runners at first-and-third for Giancarlo Stanton, and Stanton got just under this offering from Graterol to give the Yankees the lead.

After a walk to Anthony Rizzo, the Dodgers turned to relief ace Blake Treinen and he got Anthony Volpe to ground out to second. It’s 6-5 with three innings to go.

It took four-plus innings, but the Dodgers finally showed some offensive life. Offensive life is an understatement.

Enrique Hernandez slashed a single to put their first runner on via knock against Gerrit Cole. Tommy Edman than hit a routine fly ball to Aaron Judge, but this happened.

For that to happen after Judge made the spectacular catch an inning earlier is proof that baseball is weird.

With runners on first and second and no one out, Will Smith was able to reach after Anthony Volpe short-armed a throw to third that Jazz Chisholm Jr. was unable to handle.

With the bases loaded and no one out, Cole threw a 99 mph past Gavin Lux to get the first out. That brought up Shohei Ohtani, and Cole dominated the future NL MVP; ending it with a slider down in the zone.

But with two outs in the frame, the defensive mistakes weren’t done for the Yankees.

Generally, you want someone to cover first base.

Freddie Freeman than poked a single up the middle to score two, and all of a sudden it’s a two-run game.

And then, Teoscar Hernandez decided to make it a brand new game.

The Dodgers were able to load the bases against Alex Vesia, but Vesia retired the side with a flyout to right by Gleyber Torres.

This is why you can never count out these offenses. This is why this World Series has been amazing. This is fun.

Aaron Judge has made an impact with the bat in Game 4, and made a big literal impact with the outfield wall while making this spectacular catch on a ball hit by Freddie Freeman in the top of the fourth inning.

Call it a lack of pressure, call it an adjustment, call it whatever you want. I’d probably just call it Aaron Judge being really good at baseball and due to do some cool stuff. Mission accomplished.

Cole got the next two hitters out, and the Dodgers still don’t have a hit while trailing the Yankees 5-0.

Cole did allow his first baserunner of the game on a walk to Gavin Lux, but Shohei Ohtani flied out to Alex Verdugo to end the “rally.” He also struck out Tommy Edman to begin the frame, so he’s up to three strikeouts in three scoreless frames while throwing a healthy 36 pitches

Ryan Brasier was then brought into the game, and Giancarlo Stanton did what Giancarlo Stanton does quite often.

It’s 5-0 Yankees at the end of the third.

Anthony Volpe laced a double off Flaherty to lead off the second, giving him three extra-base hits in the last two contests. Austin Wells had what the cool kids call a “productive out” to move Volpe to third on a grounder to first. That brought up Alex Verdugo, and he look advantage of the drawn-in infield to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

That’ll do it for Flaherty, who got four outs while giving up four runs. The only positive for the Dodgers is that he should be available for Game 7 if necessary.

Anthony Banda took over for Flaherty and got Gleyber Torres to strike out, but then walked Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Jazz Chisholm gave it a heck of an effort to beat out a grounder to first, but came just short.

It’s 4-0 Yankees heading to the third.

Another strong inning for Gerrit Cole, and another inning where the pitch count stayed low.

Cole struck out Max Muncy looking on a painted fastball, and got Teoscar Hernandez on a breaking ball.

That’s two innings without allowing a runner for Cole, and he’s needed just 19 pitches to get through them.

Jack Flaherty didn’t give up a run until the sixth in Game 1.

He’s already given up three while only getting one out.

After giving up a long homer to Aaron Judge, Chisholm decided to join the party with this moon shot to right.

Flaherty then gave up a line-drive to center to Giancarlo Stanton that involved Enrique Hernandez having an adventure, but he ultimately made the play. A strikeout of Anthony Rizzo ended the first, but damage done to say the least.

It’s 3-0 Dodgers, and it’ll be interesting to see how much leash Flaherty has with a fully-rested Dodger bullpen.

Welcome to the World Series, Aaron Judge.

After struggling for the first three games, Judge reached three times in the Game 4 win, and wasted no time greeting Jack Flaherty with a runner on.

It’s his first homer of the World Series for the presumptive MVP, and the second of the postseason.

It’s only one inning, but Gerrit Cole looks ready to roll based on his first frame.

Just as he did in Game 1, Cole was able to get Shohei Ohtani to fly out to center field; although this one didn’t come close to the warning track. Mookie Betts grounded out on a cue shot to first base, and Freddie Freeman flied out routinely to left. In total, Cole needed just seven pitches with six landing for strikes.

There were a handful of key moments during the Game 4 victory for the Yankees, but with all due respect to the Anthony Volpe grand slam and a few other players, this is the one we’ll be talking about for a while.

A closer look revealed that both fans made contact with the Betts, with one — identified as Austin Capobianco — wrestling the ball out of Betts’ glove. Both were thrown out of Tuesday’s game, and that ban will continue Wednesday.

It’s been reported that the tickets will be refunded, and that is more of a legal obligation suggesting that they don’t have a right to be there than anything out of the goodness of their hearts.

Personally, I believe neither fan should ever be able to attend a baseball game again. There is absolutely no place for this in the sport nor anywhere else, and the precedent should be set that you can’t assault — yes, assault — players who are attempting to make a baseball play.

Game One seems like ages ago, but it was one of the better World Series games we’ve seen — at least in this writer’s eyes — and it started with terrific performances by the starters.

Cole got off to a bit of a shaky start in Game 1 with two long flyball outs from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, but he settled down very nicely while allowing just one run in six innings. The right-hander was pulled after 88 pitches, and the question now will be how big of a pitch count Cole will have in this must-win game. If the Yankees get a big cushion, would they consider pulling Cole to save him for a potential Game 7 appearance? There’s risk — and reward — with that potential usage.

Flaherty allowed just two runs in his 5 2/3 frames; both coming on a Giancarlo Stanton homer with two outs in the sixth. He also told reporters he was dealing with cramping in his hamstring prior to that at-bat, but there was never really any doubt that the right-hander was going to be on the bump for Game 5. Flaherty has been up-and-down in this postseason, and with the Dodgers essentially punting Game 4 and an off-day before Game 6, they’ll be able to turn to their relievers early if necessary.

• Moneyline: LAD: (+122) | NYY: (-144)
  
• Spread: LAD: +1.5 (-165) | NYY: -1.5 (-136)
  
• Total: 8.5 -- Over: (-105) | Under: (-115)

The lineups are out, and unsurprisingly there are no changes.

Freddie Freeman has homered in each game this series and his last six World Series games. He’ll get a chance to add to that total with a roundtripper Wednesday, and he’s hit Gerrit Cole well in the past (7-for-20 with one HR).

The Yankees made a change last night from their usual order; placing Jazz Chisholm in the middle of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. It probably had more to do with the Dodgers’ pitching, but it did “work” with the team scoring 11 runs in the must-win game.