FIELDING ERRORS HAUNT YANKEES AS THEY LOSE WORLD SERIES

After winning Tuesday night, the Yankees and their fans had hope. Down 3-1 in the series the Yankees had one more night in the Bronx to hopefully win and take the series back to L.A. 

Things were looking good in the beginning. Gerrit Cole was pitching well. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning.

In the first inning Aaron Judge hit a 2 run home run which was followed up by a Jazz Chisholm Jr. solo home run. The second inning Alex Verdugo hit a RBI single and in the third inning Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run.

The Yankees were up 5-0 and Cole continued to pitch well while Jack Flaherty was removed after pitching 1 1/3 innings.

Then came the fifth inning. Kike Hernandez hit a single. Tommy Edman hit a pop up to Aaron Judge, a routine out for Judge but for some reason he dropped the ball. Will Smith hit a line drive to Anthony Volpe who tried to throw the ball to Chisholm Jr. to get the out at third but the throw was off balance and Chisholm Jr. couldn’t make the catch. The bases were now loaded but the next two batters struck out, one of which was Shohei Ohtani. So with two outs and no runs scored yet there was hope that this messy inning would end without an harm. Next at bat was Mookie Betts who hit a line drive to Anthony Rizzo. Another play that should have been a routine out. However Cole chose to watch the play instead of backing up Rizzo and covering first base. Betts beat Rizzo to the base and a run scored. Freddie Freeman who has been hitting well the whole series hit a single to center field, two more runs scored. Still 2 outs, Teoscar Hernandez hit a double to center field and two more runs scored. The next batter walked and Hernandez came up to bat again but grounded into a force out.

The game is now tied 5-5.

Juan Soto scored a run in the sixth inning off a fly out by Giancarlo Stanton putting the Yankees back in the lead.

In the seventh inning the first two batters for the Dodgers grounded out before Cole walked Freeman. Clay Holmes came in to take over. He walked Teoscar Hernandez and struck out Muncy to get out of that inning without any harm. 

Tommy Kahnle comes in to pitch the eighth inning. Kike Hernandez and Edman hit singles and Smith walks to load the bases. Luke Weaver takes over for Kahnle but the damage was already done. Hernandez scored on a fly out to tie the game again. Ohtani gets on first due to a catcher interference call on Austin Wells. The Yankees challenged the call but lost it. Edman scored on a fly out by Betts and luckily Freeman struck out to end the inning.

The Dodgers now lead 7-6. The Yankees still have a chance being down only one run. In the eighth inning Judge hit a double and Chisholm Jr. walked. Things were looking up but Stanton hits a fly out and Rizzo struck out.

The Dodgers brought out starter Walker Buehler to close out the game. Volpe grounded out and Wells and Verdugo struck out to end the game.

The Dodgers won 7-6 and poured onto the field to celebrate as they won the World Series in 5 games. Freddie Freeman was voted Series MVP as he should have been.

It was a big loss to the Yankees and their fans. It would have been a great story for them to win and take the series into game 6 and who knows what could have happened. But now everyone will reflect on the errors made not just in this game but the series as a whole and wonder what this means for the Yankees moving forward.

The Yankees have several players that are free agents. Who will stay? Who will go? Will Aaron Boone return next season? We shall wait and see.  Hopefully they make the right moves and us Yankees fans get to see them back in the World Series in 2025.