Dodgers close out World Series on ‘brutal’ Yankees collapse
NEW YORK—Just when it appeared Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees were right back in this World Series, they all but handed away the trophy. An epic meltdown of defensive miscues, beginning with Judge’s embarrassing error in center field, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers rally in a five-run fifth inning that tied the score at 5.
Young shortstop Anthony Volpe and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole also committed costly mistakes. New York’s bullpen squandered a one-run lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 victory Wednesday night in Game 5 that wrapped up their eighth championship and second in five years.
“This is like, as bad as it gets,” Cole said. “It’s the worst feeling that you can have.”
Finally back in their first World Series since 2009, the Yankees didn’t last long.
It was the latest autumn failure for baseball’s most successful franchise—one that used to own October. Not anymore. Not lately, at least. And in the Yankees’ universe, 15 years is a long time between titles.
“I’m heartbroken,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The ending is cruel.”
On deck, an offseason of uncertainty as New York tries to retain free agent slugger Juan Soto, who is expected to have several eager suitors and command a massive contract.
“I’m really happy with the city, with the team, how these guys do, but at the end of the day, we will see,” Soto said. “We’re going to look at every situation, every offer that we get and take a decision from there. … I’ll be open to listen to every single team. I don’t have any doors closed or anything like that, so I’m going to be available to all 30 teams.
First of 25
After losing the first three games to LA, the Yankees won 11-4 in Game 4 behind Volpe to prevent a sweep. That left them looking to become the first of 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to force a Game 6, which would have been back at Dodger Stadium.
And they got off to a rollicking start, too, with back-to-back homers by Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton went deep leading off the third, and the Bronx Bombers had a 5-0 cushion.
“You feel pretty confident with your ace up there and a five-run lead, but you know, that’s baseball, man,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “They played the better baseball in this World Series.”
Cole cruised through four hitless innings, pitching around a leadoff walk in the fourth with the help of a remarkable catch by Judge as he crashed hard into the left-center fence.
California, here we come, right?
Wrong.
“We didn’t get the job done,” Judge said. “We made some mistakes along the way that hurt us.”
The Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning.
Errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with Cole failing to cover first on Betts’ grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.
After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.
Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo. Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save.
“We’re obviously resilient, but there’s so much love in the clubhouse that won this game today,” Betts said. “That’s what it was. It was love, it was grit. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I’m just proud of us and I’m happy for us.”
In the clubhouse afterward, Cole summed up the collapse with two words.
“It’s brutal,” he said.
