Gerrit Kool and the Yankees appeared to be on their way to a victory in the Game 5 World Series.
After an early lead against Jack Flaherty and the Dodgers’ bullpen, the Bombers had a 5-0 lead in the top of the fifth with their ace on the mound in the middle of a no-hitter.
Cole was in complete control from the start, but things changed quickly after that.
After Kike Hernández singled to right for the Dodgers’ first hit of the game, Tommy Edman stood by what appeared to be a routine catch Aaron Judgebut the star outfielder botched it with his first error of the season, putting runners on first and second.
A few pitches later, New York made another costly mistake at shortstop Anthony Volpe tried to throw out Hernandez at third base on a grounder in the hole, but a throw in the mud loaded the bases with no one out.
Cole bounced back nicely and struckout the next two batters, but his own mental error then proved costly, as Mookie Betts drove in the Dodgers’ first run of the game when the right-hander forgot to cover the bag on a ground ball to first.
And then World Series MVP Freddie Vrijman and cleaning lady Teoscar Hernández were sure they would make him pay as they tied things up at five apiece with back-to-back run-scoring hits.
“That comes back to me, I have to make that play,” Judge said after the game. “You can’t give a team like the Dodgers extra outs, they benefit from that. That line drive comes in, I misplay it, and then the other two happen. If that doesn’t happen, it could be a completely different story.”
The Yanks eventually fought back to take the lead just an inning later as Cole continued to pitch, but after Los Angeles put up two more runs in the top of the eighth against a depleted bullpen, those fifth-inning miscues ultimately became the biggest of what had happened. -like the game.
“Falling short in the World Series will stay with me until I die,” Judge said. “Just like any other loss, those things don’t go away, they are battle scars along the way. Hopefully, when my career is over, we will have a lot of battle scars, but also a lot of victories along the way.”
