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The New York Yankees fell in Game 5 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, effectively ending their season and championship ambitions.
A pair of stars donning the pinstripes are being criticized for their roles in the decisive loss.
The Yankees jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on Wednesday as they looked to pick up win number two in the series. After falling behind 3-0 in the set, an 11-4 win in Game 4 gave the Bronx Bombers hope.
The feeling intensified when New York grabbed that early lead in Game 5 with hopes of sending the series back to Los Angeles for a sixth matchup and a chance to even things up.
Unfortunately, they’d crumble in epic fashion.
A pair of errors in the fifth inning helped the Dodgers overcome that early deficit to tie the contest at 5-5. The Yankees defense couldn’t get out of its own way!
Los Angeles saw Enrique Hernandez lead off the frame with a single to give the road team a baserunner. From there, things went from bad to worse for New York.
Aaron Judge dropped a routine fly ball in centerfield on the next play, giving the Dodgers two runners aboard.
THE YANKEES ARE GOING TO LOSE THE WORLD SERIES BECAUSE OF ONE MAN AND ONE MAN ONLY
AARON JUDGE pic.twitter.com/uuqjTummvL
— 🦀💵 (@Krabs_Bets) October 31, 2024
The next batter grounded into what should’ve been a another out before shortstop Anthony Volpe made a throwing error to load the bases.
A pair of strikeouts lessened the scoring threat, and New York appeared on its way to the dugout unscathed when Mookie Betts hit a two-out roller to first base.
Gerrit Cole, however, forgot to cover the bag!
Anthony Rizzo secured the grounder then turned to make his toss. No one was there. Los Angeles plated its first run of the game to make the score 5-1. It went down as an infield single, but the inning should’ve been over!
College coaches are foaming at the mouth firing this one off to their pitchers group chat pic.twitter.com/Ak9JxRBhLJ
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) October 31, 2024
The errors were magnified when the next two Dodgers reached base to tie the game at 5-5. It all could’ve been avoided had those easy plays been executed.
New York would regain the lead at 6-5 in the sixth before Los Angeles took its final advantage in the eighth. They’d go onto win, 7-6, celebrating their World Series title in Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees’ superstars couldn’t shine when needed most.
Gerrit Cole was unable to get a win in either of his World Series starts, though he *technically* allowed just one run across 12.2 innings of work.
The bullpen cost him Game 1 when Freddie Freeman smashed a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning to give the Dodgers an early series advantage.
He has only himself to blame in Game 5 with five unearned runs crossing the plate after that groundball miscue.
Aaron Judge was even worse in the series, hitting just .222 with seven strikeouts. He did homer in his final contest, but it was overshadowed by his blunder in centerfield a few frames later.
The Yankees were closer than the series outcome indicated, dropping a one-run game and an extra-inning loss which could’ve dramatically changed the final result.
Their season now ends with “what-if” following that Game 5 meltdown in the Bronx.