The New York Yankees, after a brief glimmer of hope, ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, handing the Dodgers their eighth championship title, The Associated Press reports.
The Dodgers won the game 7-6, securing a 4-1 series victory.
The game was a tale of two halves, with the Yankees bursting out to a 5-0 lead in the early innings. Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and Giancarlo Stanton added another homer in the third.
However, the Dodgers mounted a stunning comeback in the fifth inning, scoring five runs thanks to a series of Yankees miscues. Judge committed an embarrassing error in center field, allowing a fly ball to drop for a hit. Young shortstop Anthony Volpe also committed an error, and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole allowed a slow roller to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who failed to cover first base in time.
The Dodgers tied the game at 5-5 on a two-run single by Freddie Freeman and a two-run double by Teoscar Hernandez.
The Yankees regained the lead in the sixth, but the Dodgers ultimately took the lead for good in the eighth on a pair of sacrifice flies.
“This is like, as bad as it gets,” Cole lamented after the game. “It’s the worst feeling that you can have.”
The loss marks another disappointing end to the season for the Yankees, who haven’t won a World Series since 2009. The franchise’s struggles in recent years have led to uncertainty surrounding their future, particularly with the impending free agency of star slugger Juan Soto.
“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.”
