Former Braves star Freddie Freeman didn’t get his home run but he got an MVP trophy and another World Series ring Wednesday night.
Freeman and the Dodgers rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 of the World Series in New York. Los Angeles won the series 4-1.
Freeman also earned a World Series ring with the Braves in 2001 when they beat the Astros in six games. But Freeman became a free agent and signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers before the 2022 season.
Freeman, who was named the most valuable player in the series, hit a two-run single in Game 5 to give him 12 RBIs, matching a Fall Classic record set 64 years ago. New York Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson drove in 12 runs in 1960 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the championship that year on Bill Mazeroski’s famous homer that ended Game 7.
Freeman compiled his total in just five games against the Yankees, breaking several World Series marks along the way.
The 35-year-old slugger homered in each of the first four games, becoming the first player to accomplish that feat. The streak began when he launched the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history in a dramatic opener in Los Angeles.
Freeman’s two-run drive in the first inning Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium made him the only player to go deep in six consecutive Series games, dating to the 2021 title he won with the Braves.
He delivered a two-run single off New York ace Gerrit Cole with two outs in the fifth inning of Game 5, part of a five-run rally that helped the Dodgers tie the score at 5.
Freeman also was robbed of an extra-base hit in the fourth when Aaron Judge made a sensational catch of his long drive while crashing hard into the fence.
Freeman batted .282 this season with 22 homers and 89 RBIs. An eight-time All-Star and the 2020 NL MVP with the Braves, he is a .300 career hitter with 343 homers, 1,232 RBIs and an .899 OPS in 15 major league seasons. He has hit .300 or higher eight times.
Freeman sprained his right ankle on Sept. 26 against San Diego while trying to avoid a tag at first base by Luis Arráez and missed the Dodgers’ last three regular-season games. He didn’t have any RBIs in the NL Division Series against San Diego and only one in the National League Championship Series against the Mets.
Freeman missed three games during the NL playoffs because of his ailing ankle. He didn’t play in the NLCS finale against the Mets and had six days off entering the World Series, allowing time for the ankle to get better.
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