It wasn’t quite as significant as the fifth inning of Game 5 last year.
But, in the opening contest of a World Series rematch at Chavez Ravine on Friday night, the Dodgers mounted another stunning late-game rally against the New York Yankees.
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And this time, they didn’t even need an assist from the Yankees’ porous defense.
Seven months to the day since the Dodgers’ historic comeback at Yankee Stadium in last year’s World Series finale — when three Yankees errors keyed an infamous five-run fifth that propelled the Dodgers to the franchise’s eighth championship — the team produced an inning of similarly unexpected magic, scoring four times in the bottom of the sixth to turn a three-run deficit into an eventual 8-5 win at a sold-out Dodger Stadium.
“The situation is a little different,” designated hitter Shohei Ohtani said in Japanese, “but I think coming back to win is always good.”
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It was Ohtani who got Friday’s sixth inning started, leading it off with his second home run of the night and MLB-leading 22nd of the season.
Freddie Freeman took over from there, hitting an RBI double off the wall to reprise his role of Yankees killer after winning MVP honors in last year’s Fall Classic.
Then, what had once been a 5-2 New York lead officially evaporated when Andy Pages lined a tying single against a drawn-in infield. The Dodgers finally went in front on a bases-loaded walk from Michael Conforto.
For a team that has been grinding for much of the last month, the sequence led to a scene of stadium-wide elation.
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“Just getting guys on, keeping the line moving, getting huge hits,” Freeman said, “that was awesome.”
“Every win is important, [but] this one is a big one,” added outfielder Teoscar Hernández. “We were down early, [but] we didn’t panic.”
For the Dodgers (35-22), nothing will compare to the ecstasy of last year’s fifth inning in Game 5; when a dropped ball from Aaron Judge, an errant throw from Anthony Volpe and calamitous miscommunication between Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo keyed the largest comeback in a title-clinching game in World Series history.
Asked about the similarities to Friday’s game, Freeman said he “actually never thought about it.”
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But, given the team’s sub-.500 play over the last three weeks, and a rash of injuries that got worse Friday when Mookie Betts was…