Three takeaways from Yankees' World Series loss to Dodgers
The Yankees almost managed a feat that had never been done before. Until they didn’t.
No team has ever forced a Game 6 after going down 3-0 in the World Series, and up until the eighth inning Tuesday evening, the possibility was firmly in their grasp. Until it wasn’t.
Here are three takeaways from the Yankees 7-6 loss to the Dodgers in the clinching Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium:
1. There is no joy in Bronx-ville.
It’s normal to be upset after losing the World Series, but for the Yankees, it was nearly funereal. It took 45 minutes for the clubhouse to open to reporters after the game, and Aaron Boone said it was because his players were in mourning. He used the word “heartbreaking” more than a few times.
It was “just guys pouring their hearts out and being there for one another, loving each other, because obviously this is a very difficult moment for us,” Boone said. “You get to this point, as I said to the guys, obviously it stings now. But this is going to sting forever. There were just a lot of heartfelt messages to each other.”
And sure, some of that has to do with the fact that this was the Yankees' game to lose — they were leading 5-0 before an error-riddled fifth inning began the spiral that would end their season — but it also has to do with the fact that this team simply won’t be the same next year. From Anthony Rizzo to Juan Soto to Gerrit Cole, who has a player option, a lot of the pieces in that close-knit room might not be back. In a lot of ways, the Yankees were saying goodbye to more than just the season.
“To wear this jersey is something special that I hope every player gets to feel,” said Rizzo, who has a club option for next year and was still wearing his uniform about two hours after the final out. “We were really broken up in here.”
Asked about his own future, he said: “I don’t know what they’re thinking . . . I don’t want to take [this jersey] off.”
2. The Yankees’ fundamentals betrayed them.
That fifth inning was an utter disaster.
Cole hadn’t allowed a single hit through four innings before the Yankees defense dismantled in ways that would make the Bad News Bears blush. After Enrique Hernandez led off with a single, Tommy Edman hit a fly ball to center that Aaron Judge flat-out dropped for an error. The next batter, Will Smith, hit a grounder to short: Anthony Volpe got in front of it instead of trying for the backhand, and then attempted to get the lead runner at third but bounced the throw, loading the bases. Cole struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani, but then he and Rizzo managed to have simultaneous brain freezes. Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first, Rizzo didn’t charge the ball, Cole didn’t cover first and Betts beat out both of them as a run scored. By the time everything settled, the Yankees had allowed five unearned runs, and the score was tied at 5.
“It was a miscommunication on coverage,” Rizzo said of the play between him and Cole. “Those balls off righties, those cappers are the hardest balls for us . . . I was kind of going for it and it kicked one way, so I really had to make sure to catch it first and flip.” Cole, though, wasn’t there to catch it.
3. Boone still has the support of his players, but his future remains uncertain.
Judge said as much after the game, but it was also evident in the time he spent talking to them after the final out. Boone consoled his team, addressed the media and then walked all the way over to the visitors; clubhouse to congratulate Dave Roberts.
“He’s always been there for us,” Judge said. “He tries to put us in the best situation day in and day out. He’s a guy that every single person in this room would run through a wall for. The culture we have here, there is something special we have going on here, it starts with him at the top.”
Boone has a club option for next season, but didn’t provide any clarity on his own future — possibly because he doesn’t have any.
“I don't know,” he said when asked when he starts thinking about his own future. “We’ll see. I don’t know.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
