It was a sunny, beautiful day for baseball at Dodgers Stadium. Game seven of the World Series was set to take place between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros. The Astros defeated the Red Sox in Game seven of the championship series and the Dodgers defeated the Phillies in six games. Dedicated fans were just beginning to show up and find their seats to support the Dodgers. On the mound for the Astros was the veteran Lance McCullers Jr. meanwhile getting ready in the Dodgers bullpen was the young, lively arm of Bobby Miller. As the Astros finished taking their hacks during batting practice the Dodgers elite lineup walked out onto the field. A couple of hours later the Astros leadoff man Jose Altuve strode into the batters box and immediately was doused with boos from the Dodger fans. These two franchises have some history in the World Series as they met back in 2018 to clash for the trophy. The Astros did emerge victorious, however further investigation revealed the Astros had cheated using signs to communicate with the hitters accumulating the nickname the Trashtros. They used the center field camera to see the catcher’s signs and then they banged on a trash can to tell the hitter the pitch type.

Miller fired a first pitch strike at 100 miles per hour. Since coming into the league in 2023 Miller has the highest average fastball velocity for a starting pitcher. Yet again Miller gave some heat to Altuve, who took a swing and a miss at the high cheese. The next pitch was a changeup in the lower part of the strike zone and Altuve was just late on it, hitting it foul down the right field line. The next pitch Miller delivered a perfect slide at 91 miles per hour and it got the whiff from the Houston second baseman giving Bobby his first strikeout of the ballgame. The left handed right fielder Kyle Tucker hit next for the Astros and he popped up the first pitch he saw the slugging third baseman Max Muncy retreated into the outfield to make the catch and it was now two outs. The power hitting lefty Yordan Alvarez stood in the batter’s box next and the first pitch he saw he launched into left field. Teoscar Hernandez the Dodgers left fielder leaped on the warning track and robbed Alvarez of a dinger. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Hernandez held the ball up for the umpires to see. Teammates swarmed him with high fives as he jogged back into the Dodger’s dugout.

The Dodgers got their helmets on and they were ready to face Lance McCullers Jr. Mookie Betts, the multi-time All Star who had also worn a Red Sox uniform in his career, was set to leadoff for LA. He took the first pitch in the dirt and it was blocked by the Astros’ catcher, the second year player, Yainer Diaz. Betts put a good swing on the next pitch and the crack rippled through the air as the ball soared into the left field concourse for a leadoff home run. The lights flashed and music echoed through the stadium as Mookie jogged around the bases giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Next came the 700 million dollar two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani quickly got ahead of McCullers with a 3-0 count. McCullers served up a cookie to Ohtani and it was crushed and off the wall for a triple. Next came the veteran talent Freddie Freeman. Freeman hit a deep fly ball into center field but Jake Meyers caught it just shy of the wall. Ohtani tagged up for home and Meyers had no chance at throwing him out from that deep in center. The cleanup hitter, the young number one catcher in MLB, Will Smith was the next to hit for the Dodgers. The first pitch he saw he took a swing and a miss at a fastball in on the hands. The next pitch was in a similar location but this time McCullers used his change up and Smith fouled it back behind the plate out of play. The count was nothing a two and with two strikes Smith took a swing and he drove it deep to right field for an opposite field 439 foot home run. An irritated Astros pitching coach walked out to the mound to have a word with the Astros’ starting pitcher and the infield, while the right-handed reliever Rafael Montero began to loosen up the Houston bullpen. Next came the hot corner Max Muncy who quickly struck out on just three pitches. Teoscar Hernandez followed Max with a strikeout on seven pitches. After a 25 pitch first inning McCullers finally could sit down on the dugout bench.

Seven innings later the score was 13-2 Astros. Due to the fact that Dodgers closing pitcher Evan Phillips, who attained a rib fracture during an end of season game against the Diamondbacks, Brusdar Graterol came into the game in the top of the ninth. Graterol was not a bad make-shift closer in fact, on many other teams he would have that role in the bag. Graterol had shown back to back impressive years out of the pen, this season posting a 1.46 ERA in 63 games. Graterol delivered his first pitch to the first baseman Jose Abreu who popped it up in foul territory. The catcher Smith tossed his mask and made the grab for the first out in the ninth. The next hitter for Houston was unlucky as well as Yainer Diaz chased in the dirt for a strikeout. Next to hit for Houston was the center fielder Meyers. Meyers knocked a base hit into center field but it was irrelevant as the second baseman Altuve struck out looking at 102 miles per hour from Graterol.

Now the Dodgers had to pull of something near impossible. They had to come back from a nine run deficit with only three outs to do it. The nine hole hitter Gavin Lux smashed a double into the right field gap. Betts tried a bunt to move him over and it was perfect. The unsuspecting third baseman Bregman lunged forward for the bunt but his throw was way late and Lux advanced and Betts was now on first base. When Mookie swiped second base Yainer Diaz let him have it without a throw from behind the plate. It was now second and third for LA. The next pitch Ohtani saw he hit it to the moon with a 498 foot home run. The Dodgers were now getting closer with the score now being 13-5 Astros. Freeman walked. He stole second. Smith hit a double. Freeman scored. Muncy hit a sacrifice fly. Smith advanced to third base. Hernandez hit a home run. 13-8 Astros. Outman hit a home run. Heyward hit a single. Taylor, who was pinch hitting for Gavin Lux, took a walk. Betts walked. Ohtani delivered with another big fly and the score was now 13-12 Astros. Two outs was all the Dodgers lineup had left to work with to score at least one run. Freeman smashed a double on the sixth pitch of his at bat. Up came the catcher Will Smith. Ryan Pressly, the second Astros pitcher of the inning, delivered a fastball at 94 just below the knees. The next pitch was a swing and a miss for the Dodgers backstop and the count was even at one. Smith took another cut and a whiff on the next pitch. The next one, as explained by Ryan Pressly in the post-game press interview, apparently “Slipped out of my hand.” It was 96 straight at the helmet of Smith. He was nailed and the umpire warned Pressly. As boos from fans were instantly directed at Pressly. Smith jogged to first and up came Max Muncy. The hot corner took a swing and the first ball from Pressly and it was a pop towards shortstop handled by Jeremy Peña for the second out. It was all down to Teoscar Hernandez. Hernandez was one of the many expensive signings of the Dodgers offseason of 2023 other notable names included Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Hernandez whiffed on the first two from Pressly and it quickly became 0-2 to the left fielder. Pressly got the sign from Diaz and strode down the rubber throwing way above the mitt of Diaz. Both runners advanced. But what happened next was something Pressly would regret the rest of his career. A curve slipped from the tips of his fingers right down the pipe to Hernandez and while Pressly missed, Hernandez did not hammering the pitch to dead center for a walk-off, World Series winning, no-doubt bomb for Teoscar Hernandez. Teammates and coaches swarmed him as the cheers from the stadium could be heard around the world. When Hernandez received the World Series MVP honors no one was surprised. That is how the Dodgers won the World Series.