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10/30/2024 11:51 PM

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, 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 and emerge as 2024 World Series champions.

Give the Dodgers credit – they took advantage of mistakes and emerged as the far 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, squandering an opportunity to force Game 6 with growing momentum on their side.

This is 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. Starter Gerrit Cole then struck out Tommy Edman and Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded, but when Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first, Cole somehow forgot to cover, allowing Betts to reach on what was scored a single. 

A run scored on the play, 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 Freddie Freeman, easily the most locked-in hitter around on a field full of stars.

To no one's surprise, Freeman drove in two with a single, Teoscar Hernandez drove in two more with a double and the game was tied. With that sequence, the Yankees embarrassed themselves on the sport's biggest stage, making fundamental mistake after fundamental mistake when they could least afford them.

It felt like the beginning of a collapse, and by the time Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with nobody out to start the eighth inning it was clear that 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.

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.

As Cole walked off the field, the sellout crowd of 49,263 stood and chanted his name – an acknowledgment of the impact their $324 million ace made on the must-win game. But in the end, the Dodgers pitched well too, with starter Walker Buehler getting his first-ever save.

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, there's no denying the excitement of adding a second title and finally enjoying a World Series celebration through the streets of L.A.

"We want that parade," said manager Dave Roberts. "We never got a chance to celebrate with the city of Los Angeles."

Now, in their first season with Shohei Ohtani, they'll get that chance. Along with Betts and Freeman, Ohtani helped set a tone all year, though his World Series performance was rather quiet.

"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."

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 select 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.

But 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.

This was an incredible chance to add to their storied history. But they missed it, making preventable mistakes, and it was instead the Dodgers who made history in the Bronx.