Just when it seemed like Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees were back in the World Series, they almost gave the trophy away.
A major defensive collapse, starting with Judge’s costly mistake in center field, allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to make a comeback during a five-run fifth inning that tied the game at 5.
Young shortstop Anthony Volpe and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole also made key errors. New York’s bullpen let go of a one-run lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 win on Wednesday night in Game 5, securing their eighth championship and second in five years.
The Yankees returned to the World Series for the first time since 2009, but their time there was short. This is another fall failure for baseball’s most successful team, which used to dominate October.
Not anymore, at least in recent years. For the Yankees, 15 years is a long wait between championships.
Now, they face an offseason of uncertainty as New York tries to keep free agent slugger Juan Soto, who is likely to attract many offers and demand a huge contract.
After losing the first three games to LA, the Yankees won 11-4 in Game 4 thanks to Volpe, preventing a sweep. This left them hoping to become the first of 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to push for a Game 6, which would have been back at Dodger Stadium.
They started strong with back-to-back home runs by Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton also hit a homer leading off the third, giving the Bronx Bombers a 5-0 lead.
Cole pitched well for four innings without allowing a hit, working around a leadoff walk in the fourth, thanks to an amazing catch by Judge as he crashed hard into the left-center fence.
California, here we come, right? Wrong.
Kiké Hernández started the fifth inning with a single, and then Judge missed an easy fly ball from Tommy Edman in center field, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. It looked like Judge took his eye off the ball and tried to catch it with just his glove hand.
Will Smith then hit a ground ball to the right of Anthony Volpe, who fielded it well and aimed to throw out the lead runner at third. However, his rushed throw bounced off Jazz Chisholm’s glove for another error, loading the bases.
After a visit to the mound, Cole focused and struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani while the crowd of 49,263 at Yankee Stadium cheered loudly.
It seemed like Cole had escaped trouble when Mookie Betts hit a slow roller to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Because the ball was spinning a lot, Rizzo hesitated. Cole initially ran to cover first base but then stopped. When Rizzo picked up the ball, Cole was too far away.
Cole pointed toward first base, but Rizzo couldn’t beat the speedy Betts, who got an infield single that cut New York’s lead to 5-1.
Series MVP Freddie Freeman then hit a two-run single, tying the record for the most RBIs in a World Series with 12. Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run double over Judge’s head in left-center, tying the game.
With the five-run lead gone so quickly, the end felt almost certain.
Stanton put the Yankees back ahead 6-5 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but reliever Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth due to two singles and a four-pitch walk.
A catcher’s interference call on Austin Wells also hurt, as Lux and Betts each got sacrifice flies off closer Luke Weaver, giving the Dodgers a 7-6 lead that right-handers Blake Treinen and Walker Buehler held onto.
