by Megan Garcia
The fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series is now etched in history as one of the most important innings in Dodger history.
The Dodgers staged an incredible five-run comeback in the fifth — due in part to defensive miscues — leading them to ultimately beat the Yankees 7–6 at Yankee Stadium in the Fall Classic on Wednesday and claim the franchise’s eighth World Series title.
The Dodgers were hitless against Gerrit Cole through four innings while the Yankees commanded a five-run lead. But when Kiké Hernández stepped up to the plate to lead off the fifth, his single jumpstarted the inning that turned the Dodgers’ fate around.
Hernández singled off the second pitch from Cole to bring up Tommy Edman, who drilled a liner to center field in his at-bat. Despite the 90% catch probability, Aaron Judge couldn’t snag the ball hit towards him.
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The Yankees’ defense continued to unravel when Will Smith hit a grounder to shortstop Anthony Volpe. He spiked the throw into the ground in an attempt to nail Hernández at third, but instead the error loaded the bases.
The next batter in the order was Mookie Betts, who had four hits in the World Series.
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With two outs, Betts hit a grounder to Anthony Rizzo but a gaffe by Cole left first base uncovered. Betts legged out the hit and Hernández scored for the Dodgers’ first run.
“Just push one across, one at a time,” Betts said of the Dodgers five-run comeback. “The game wasn’t over. We still had a lot of baseball to play.”
Freddie Freeman kept the line moving with a two-RBI single to center field to put the Dodgers within two runs of tying the game.
Teoscar Hernández hit double off the center field wall, plating Betts and Freeman, to tie the game at 5–5. By then, Cole’s pitch count had inflated to 32 pitches in the inning alone.
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The Dodgers had to fight their way back again in the eighth after the Yankees tacked on a run in the sixth. But the final comeback was made possible with the relentless offense that found a way to capitalize on the Yankees’ mistakes in the fifth that helped their quest to a World Series championship.
World Series: The Dodgers fight their way to an improbable comeback was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.