The Los Angeles Dodgers won their eighth World Series championship Wednesday night, defeating the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. The victory marked their first title in a full season since 1988.

Down by five runs, the Dodgers mounted a stunning comeback against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. The team scored five runs in the fifth inning to tie the game before taking the lead with two crucial runs in the eighth.

”It seems like we hit every speed bump possible over the course of this year,” said World Series MVP Freddie Freeman. “This is what we start out to do every single spring training is to win a championship.”

Freeman led the Dodgers’ championship run with remarkable consistency. He hit home runs in each of the first four games and set a franchise World Series record with 12 RBIs.

The Dodgers’ bullpen played a crucial role in securing the victory. Seven relief pitchers combined to hold the Yankees to just two runs over the final 7 2/3 innings.

Blake Treinen delivered a particularly strong performance, pitching through the seventh inning and escaping a tight spot in the eighth by striking out Anthony Rizzo.

Walker Buehler, who had won Game 3, closed out the game on just one day’s rest. He successfully retired the bottom of the Yankees’ order to seal the championship.

The series victory came after the Dodgers won the first three games, including a dramatic Game 1 that ended with Freeman’s 10th-inning grand slam.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone expressed his disappointment after the loss. “I’m heartbroken, and I’m heartbroken for those guys that poured so much into this,” he said. “The ending is cruel. It always is.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reflected on his team’s resilience. “Certainly a lot of emotions from the way it started to certainly the way it finished,” he said. “I’m just so grateful to be in this chair, and what our guys did, the resilience, the fight that they had.”

The championship represents the Dodgers’ first World Series title since 2020 and caps off a season in which they won 98 regular-season games and 11 of 16 postseason contests.