Blake Treinen ‘finds peace’ against Aaron Judge in World Series

Even the casual baseball fan knows all about Kirk Gibson and his legendary walk-off home run. The serious baseball fan knows that Dennis Eckersley gave up the home run. The dedicated Dodgers fan knows that Mike Davis pulled the trigger ahead of Gibson.

But even the most die-hard Dodgers fans would struggle to identify the winning pitcher that night.

Blake Treinen, meet Alejandro Pena.

Freddie Freeman made a winner out of Treinen and all of the Dodgers on Friday, blasting the first walk-off grand slam in the World Series’ 121-year history, sending a city into delirium and prompting instant mashups of Gibson and Freeman home runs. .

Treinen saved the Dodgers in the ninth inning of Game 1 against the mighty New York Yankees. The Dodgers saved him in the 10th inning when Freeman hit a home run so dramatic it was branded legendary as soon as it landed.

“It was pretty sick,” Treinen said.

Treinen has proven to be the most reliable arm in a deep bullpen. He gave up one run in August, no runs in September. He had given up a race in October.

In the ninth inning of a tied game, the Dodgers asked Treinen to replace Michael Kopech with the potential game-winning run at second base. The Dodgers intentionally walked Juan Soto so Treinen would face presumptive American League MVP Aaron Judge.

“There’s peace about it,” Treinen said. “There is a peace when you go out and just let it be what it is. You can let the situation get big, or you can just try to live in it and enjoy it.”

Treinen called it a “pick your poison” situation. Neither Soto nor Judge is a welcome sight at the plate, but with Judge, the Dodgers had the right-handed Treinen facing a right-handed batter.

Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers’ starter, struck out the umpire three times.

“He’s not a guy you necessarily go in to strike out,” Treinen said, “because he’s a great hitter. But every hitter gives you a window every now and then. Right there, we were just trying to get some weak contact, or at least change the eye level, and luckily we got a popup.”

Said Kopech: “Blake already cleaned up after me this postseason, so it was huge for him to come and do what he had to do right there.”

When Treinen returned to the dugout, Kiké Hernández asked him a question.

“Do you want me to end this?” Hernández asked.

It wouldn’t be the script ending tonight. The Dodgers were retired in order in the ninth, with Hernández fliing out to end the inning.

In the 10th, Treinen gave up a run when Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, stole second base, stole third base and scored on a force play. During the regular season, eight of nine runners successfully stole against Treinen.

The Yankees led 3-2.

“At first,” Treinen said, “pretty mad that I was going to be the one with an L next to my name.”

Hernández again told Treinen that the Dodgers would sign him. After the game, Hernández said he expected Shohei Ohtani to hit the shutout.

“The end of the adventure,” Hernández said.

Instead, Freeman hit a walk-off home run — and what about the guy who could barely walk and delivered his own fairytale ending?

“It was barely enough before I started blacking out and trying to get to the pitch. I almost fell over the rail,” Kopech said. “Freddie is a bad man.”

Treinen rushed the plate to join his teammates, who enveloped Freeman in a giant hug reminiscent of 1988.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team stay on the field for 20 minutes after the last play just to watch in awe and soak up the fans,” Treinen said. “It was the most incredible moment in baseball I’ve been blessed to see.”

Legendary Hero: Freeman.

Winning pitcher with first career World Series win: Treinen.

“I never thought about that,” Treinen said. “Add that to the list of gratitudes for the big guy upstairs.”