by Cary Osborne
Four in the sixth is the new five in the fifth.
The ghosts of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series remain — shifting from Yankee Stadium in New York to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers completed another amazing comeback against the Yankees, erasing a 5–2 deficit and taking a lead in the sixth inning with four runs.
The Dodgers opened up their highly anticipated series with the defending American League champions with an 8–5 victory on Friday at Dodger Stadium.
“Those guys came out really focused, and you can see that how bad they wanted it,” said manager Dave Roberts of the Yankees. “They had their ace on the mound. For us to get behind the eight ball a little bit with runs and find a way to scratch back into the game was huge.”
And speaking of huge, it was Shohei Ohtani who ignited the comeback, leading off the bottom of the sixth inning with a rainmaker home run that just went over the long arm of right fielder Aaron Judge. The homer had a 42-degree launch angle. It was the 16th homer this year hit in the Major Leagues with a 42-degree launch angle or greater.
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Ohtani led off the game for the Dodgers with a 417-foot home run, answering a 446-foot home run by Judge in the top of the first inning.
The Dodger designated hitter tied a franchise record for most home runs in a single month with 15.
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The Dodgers sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth inning. Freddie Freeman, the 2024 World Series hero, doubled in a run to cut the Yankees’ lead to 5–4. Andy Pages drove in a run with a single. Michael Conforto walked with the bases loaded, accounting for the other three runs in the frame.
Freeman had three hits — two doubles and a single. As hot as he was during the World Series, he had one two-hit game and solo hits in the other four contests.
Pages later added a two-run single in the seventh inning on Friday.
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This was the first meeting between the two teams since Game 5 of the 2024 Fall Classic and the Dodgers’ legendary five-run fifth inning and 7–6 comeback victory to clinch the franchise’s eighth World Series title.
And the Dodgers delivered in a game that had a World Series-like atmosphere.
“I feel like it’s a little different situation, but it’s always nice to come back from a losing situation,” Ohtani said.
A few things had to go right for it all to happen.
Dodger starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin was roughed up for five runs in the first three innings. He allowed four home runs.
But he retired all nine batters he faced in innings four through six.
Gonsolin said a change from pitching in the windup to pitching entirely out of the stretch turned things around for him.
The Dodger bullpen of Jack Dreyer, Ben Casparius, Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia pitched the final three scoreless innings.
The Dodgers succeeded in being the first team this season to not only beat left-handed starter Max Fried, but to score at least three earned runs against him. They scored six.
Fried came into the game with a 1.29 ERA. He left it with a 1.92 ERA.
Ohtani now has 61 runs scored this season and 22 home runs — both leading the Major Leagues. He is on pace for 173 runs and 63 home runs.
Ohtani has hit 63 home runs in his last 162 games played.
The Dodgers won the game without Mookie Betts, who is day to day after stubbing his toe on Wednesday. Roberts said he doesn’t expect an injured list stint, but he doesn’t anticipate Betts starting in this series.
Sound familiar? A big comeback inning fuels Dodgers’ victory over Yankees was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.