NEW YORK — It started with a dropped fly ball by Aaron Judge.
Then came two more defensive misplays from the Yankees, a series of tenacious late-game at-bats by the Dodgers and just enough relief pitching to keep New York from scoring the late-game run they so desperately needed.
By the time Game 5 of the World Series ended, three hours and 42 minutes after it began, the Yankees had blown a 5-0 lead and missed a chance to send the World Series back to Los Angeles while the Dodgers had thoroughly outplayed their American League counterparts to win the game 7-6, take the series four games to one and emerge as 2024 World Series champions.
“It’s hard to comprehend,” said Freddie Freeman, the World Series MVP. “Right now I’m just ecstatic.”
“Extremely honoured to be a part of this,” said Shohei Ohtani.
“I’m just so grateful to be in this chair,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And (for) what our guys did, the resilience, the fight that they had.”
Give the Dodgers credit — they took advantage of mistakes and emerged as the more balanced team in this series, overcoming a powerful Yankees offence that featured home runs from Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton in a losing effort. In contrast to the visitors, the Yankees collapsed when it counted most.
“This is as bad as it gets,” said starter Gerrit Cole. “It’s the worst feeling you can have.”
“Just brutal.”
It’s a loss that has the potential to haunt the Yankees and their fans for years to come. New York took a 5-0 lead into the fifth inning only to give it away with some of the worst defence you’ll see on a major-league field, let alone in a must-win World Series game.
First, Judge dropped a routine fly ball in centre field. When the next batter hit a ground ball to shortstop, Anthony Volpe tried for a force at third only to throw wildly for an error. Cole then struck out Tommy Edman and Ohtani with the bases loaded, but when Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first, Cole wasn’t there to cover, so Betts reached on a misplay that was scored a single.
“I took a bad angle,” Cole said. “Just a bad read.”
A run scored, but the inning continued. The middle of the Dodgers’ batting order was now up despite the fact that Cole had recorded five outs or near-outs by this point. That created an opportunity for Freeman, easily the most locked-in hitter on a field full of stars.
To no one’s surprise, Freeman drove in two with a single before Teoscar Hernandez drove in two more with a double and the game was tied. With that sequence, the Yankees fell short on the sport’s biggest stage, making fundamental mistake after fundamental mistake when they could least afford them.
As Chisholm Jr. later said: “You blink for one second…”
“It’s a little hard to comprehend,” Cole added. “But we were still in the ballgame.”
Yet by the time Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with nobody out to start the eighth inning it was clear more trouble awaited the Yankees. Sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts quickly flipped a 6-5 lead into a 7-6 deficit and the Dodgers held on from there.
“I mean, I’m heartbroken,” said manager Aaron Boone. “It doesn’t take away my pride of what that room means to me and what that group forged this year and what we’ve been through to get here.
“But I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken, and I’m heartbroken for those guys that poured so much into this. The ending is cruel. It always is.”
All told, Cole went 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run while striking out six. In a pleasant departure from modern baseball norms, he faced the top of the Dodgers’ batting order four times and allowed only two walks and two singles to the Ohtani-Betts-Freeman trio. Considering the misplays behind him, he actually recorded more than seven innings’ worth of outs.
Still, after the game he was searching for answers.
“I can’t put it into words,” he said.
As Cole walked off the field, the sellout crowd of 49,263 stood and chanted his name — an acknowledgment of his impact on the must-win game.
“He was in complete command of his emotions,” Boone said. “I thought he was brilliant.”
But the Dodgers pitched well too, with contributions from six relievers followed by starter Walker Buehler getting his first ever save.
“Our last bullet,” as Roberts put it.
With the win, the Dodgers further solidify their place as one of MLB’s elite franchises. Their eighth-ever World Series title is their second in the last five years, and their first full-season championship since 1988.
While the Dodgers overcame a unique set of challenges to win it all in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, there’s no denying the excitement of adding a second title and finally enjoying a World Series parade through the streets of L.A.
“I’m going to enjoy the heck out of (it),” Roberts said. “I’m sure there’s no asterisk on this one.”
While Ohtani’s World Series production was quiet, he celebrated joyfully afterwards, sharing champagne showers with his teammates. Along with Betts and Freeman, Ohtani helped set a tone for the Dodgers all year.
“You see the way they talk, the way they act, the way they work, the way they prepare for every game, it’s just amazing because they have no ego,” Hernandez said. “When you see guys like that, working like that and thinking like that, you make yourself work a little harder just to be like them.”
But while many Dodgers looked to Ohtani as a leader, the admiration for his teammates was mutual.
“It really allowed me to elevate my game,” said Ohtani, MLB’s first 50-50 player. “Not just technically, but also professionally.”
As for the Yankees, this loss marks a turning point. Juan Soto will officially hit free agency in a few days, setting in motion a bidding war that may also feature the Mets and other big-market teams. Losing Soto would be a huge blow to the offence that led this team to an AL East title, and that possibility should motivate Yankees ownership to make a massive offer for Soto.
“I hope he’s here forever,” Boone said. “But I also know I’m excited for him and what the next few months are for him.”
It’s not just Soto hitting free agency, as the contracts of Clay Holmes, Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo all expire, too. One way or another, the 2025 Yankees are likely to look a lot different with no guarantee of similar success.
First, though, there was a memorable game to make sense of — and a few goodbyes to share. After the Dodgers had popped champagne and the Yankees had held an impromptu meeting in the clubhouse, Roberts and Boone ran into one another in the bowels of Yankee Stadium and embraced.
“I think Aaron is the only one in baseball that can really relate to my job,” Roberts said. “Either win a World Series championship or you failed.”