The Yankees appeared to be on their way to Los Angeles for game six of the World Series but the plane never left the runway.
The Yankees have suffered some embarrassing losses in recent years, but this one goes to the top of the list.
The Yankees had a 5-0 lead, everything was going well and they were cruising to a victory in game five only to see it come crashing down thanks to, arguably, the worst defensive inning in World Series history.
The Dodgers rallied for a 7-6 win to wrap up the World Series in five games and clinch their 8th World Championship, while handing the Yankees one of the worst collapses and losses in their World Series history.
It was a fitting ending to a Yankee season filled with inconsistency.
All season long, despite a stat (1st in the AL, 3rd in the Major Leagues in runs scored) that indicated otherwise, the Yankees failed to hit with runners in scoring position (1 for 10, 12 men left on base in game five) and there was an alarming habit of making costly mistakes.
They were able to overcome those flaws against inferior competition like Kansas City and Cleveland but it finally caught up to them against a much better team that took full advantage of any break they got.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was dominating with four hitless and scoreless innings but Kike Hernandez got the Dodgers into the hit column with a single to center to lead off the ill-fated fifth.
Two errors, and one huge mental lapse later and a 5-0 lead evaporated in a matter of 22 minutes.
The Yankees essentially gave the Dodgers six outs as 10 batters came to the plate against Cole, who deserved a better fate, but he also contributed to the collapse. “This is like as bad as it gets. It’s the worst feeling that you can have,” Cole said in a despondent clubhouse after the game.
With Hernandez at first, Tommy Edman lined a ball to center field but Aaron Judge dropped it for the first error of the inning to put runners on first and second.
“You can’t give a good team like that extra outs.” Judge said. “It starts with me there, line drive coming in, misplay that. That doesn’t happen, I think we have a different story tonight.”
Will Smith then hit a bouncer in the hole between short and third. Anthony Volpe back handed the ball but threw low to third and Jazz Chisholm Jr could not make the scoop. The second error of the inning allowed the Dodgers to load the bases with nobody out.
Cole bore down and got Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani on back to back strikeouts and appeared to be ready to get out of the inning. Mookie Betts grounded a roller to first but Anthony Rizzo had to wait on it and Cole failed to cover. Betts was credited with an infield hit as a run scored to make it 5-1. (It was a reminder of earlier this season in Kansas City where a similar play occurred that ended up costing the Yankees a game)
“I kind of was going for it and then it kicked one way so I had to really make sure to catch it first and look up to flip,” Rizzo said.
Freddie Freeman was next and Cole got ahead 1-2, but on the fifth pitch of the at bat, the Dodgers first baseman who was named Series MVP, stroked a two run single to center to cut the Yankee lead to 5-3. With two more runs batted in, Freeman tied Bobby Richardson’s World Series record of 12 which was set in seven games in 1960.
Teoscar Hernandez, who has tortured the Yankees, lined a two run double to center to tie the game as the Dodgers plated five unearned runs in a stunning collapse by the home team.
The Yankees actually got the lead back in the sixth.
Brusdar Graterol began the inning by walking Juan Soto and Aaron Judge to set up the inning. After Chisholm Jr forced Judge at second, Soto scored the go ahead run from third on a sacrifice fly by Giancarlo Stanton.
Leading 6-5, the Yankees went to Tommy Kahnle to start the eighth but the right hander could not retire a batter as the Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out.
Hernandez lined a single to left and Edman reached on an infield single. After Kahnle walked Will Smith to load the bases, Manager Aaron Boone went to Luke Weaver to try and save the day.
Weaver got Gavin Lux to hit a game tying sac fly, but Ohtani (who was 2 for 19 in the Series but deserves a ton of credit for playing the final three games despite a partially dislocated shoulder) reached on catcher’s interference to re-load the bases. Betts drove in the go ahead run with the second sac fly of the inning and what proved to be the final nail in the Yankees coffin.
The Dodgers’ eighth inning was a clinic of how they execute, while the Yankees’ eighth inning was the total opposite.
With one out, Judge doubled and a walk to Chisholm Jr put two on but as has been the case all season long, the Yankees failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Blake Treinen, who was the winning pitcher, got Stanton on a short pop fly to right and after striking out Rizzo to end the inning, he came screaming off the mound, knowing that they were just three outs away from winning the World Series.
Roberts went to starter Walker Buehler to close it out and he did just that. First it was Volpe on a ground out to third and then consecutive strikeouts of Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo as the Dodgers celebrated in the Bronx for the second time since 1981.
The Yankees electrified the crowd with a fast start as they scored three runs in the first inning and knocked out Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty in the second inning.
After Soto walked, Judge lined his first World Series home run into the right field seats for a quick 2-0 lead.
Chisholm Jr followed with his first World Series home run to put the Yanks up 3-0 behind Cole who appeared to be unhittable in the early going.
The Yanks added single runs in the second and third on an RBI single and another home run from Stanton respectively. It was Stanton’s 7th home run in October which set a franchise record for the most in a single post season. Stanton’s 18th career post season home run tied him with Mickey Mantle for third in franchise history, trailing only Bernie Williams (22) and Derek Jeter (20).
Cole set down 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced and the Yankees appeared to be ready to pack their bags and go West, but the Dodgers had other ideas.
The signs were there all season long for the kind of self destructive fifth inning that took place last night. The bottom line is that the Dodgers were the better team, who thoroughly outplayed the Yankees in every facet of the game and deserve to be World Champions.
The Yankees will lick their wounds but the off season has begun.
Despite having won the American League pennant, the Yankees played a brand of baseball that is not championship caliber. The Yankees need to take a cue from the team they just lost to because, frankly speaking, what they’re doing is not working.