Boone left heartbroken after 'cruel' Fall Classic defeat

Just when it appeared Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees were right back in this World Series, they all but gave the trophy away.

An epic meltdown of defensive miscues, beginning with Judge's embarrassing error in center field, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers rally in a five-run fifth inning that tied the score at 5 apiece.

Young shortstop Anthony Volpe and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole also committed costly mistakes. New York's bullpen squandered a onerun lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 victory Wednesday night in Game 5, wrapping up their eighth championship and second in five years.

"I'm heartbroken," manager Aaron Boone said. "The ending is cruel."

Finally back in their first World Series since 2009, the Yankees didn't last long.

It was the latest autumn failure for baseball's most successful franchise — one that used to own the month of October.

Not anymore. Not lately, at least. And in the Yankees' universe, 15 years is a long time between titles.

"This is a very difficult moment for us," Boone said.

"This is going to sting forever."

The Yankees now face an off-season of uncertainty, as they try to retain free agent slugger Juan Soto, who is expected to have several eager suitors and command a massive contract.

After losing the first three games to LA, the Yankees won 11-4 in Game 4 behind Volpe to prevent a sweep. That left them looking to become the first of 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to force a Game 6, which would have been back at Dodger Stadium.

And they got off to a rollicking start, too, with back-to-back homers by Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton went deep leading off the third, and the Bronx Bombers had a 5-0 cushion.

"You feel pretty confident with your ace up there and a five-run lead, but you know, that's baseball, man," left fielder Alex Verdugo said. "They played the better baseball in this World Series."

Cole cruised through four hitless innings, pitching around a leadoff walk in the fourth with the help of a remarkable catch by Judge as he crashed hard into the left-center field fence. California, here we come, right? Wrong.

"We didn't get the job done," Judge said. "We made some mistakes along the way that hurt us."

Kike Hernandez opened the fifth with a single, then it was Judge who dropped Tommy Edman's easy fly to center, putting runners at first and second with nobody out.

Will Smith followed with a grounder to the right of Volpe, who fielded it cleanly in the hole and tried to get the lead runner at third base. His hurried throw glanced off Chisholm's glove for another error, loading the bases.

After a mound visit, Cole buckled down and struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani as the sellout crowd of 49,263 at Yankee Stadium roared.

And it looked as though Cole had wriggled out of the jam when Mookie Betts grounded a slow squibber to first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

But, because the ball was spinning so much, Rizzo waited back on it. Cole initially broke to cover first base, then stopped. And when Rizzo scooped up the ball, Cole was nowhere close and Rizzo had no chance to beat Betts to the bag. He was credited with an infield single that drove in the first of five runs.

Series MVP Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run single, and Teoscar Hernandez tied it with a two-run double over Judge's head in left-center.

"We didn't take care of the ball well enough in that inning," Boone lamented.

In the clubhouse afterward, Cole summed up the collapse with two words. "It's brutal," he said.

On Fox Sports, Yankees legend Derek Jeter seemed baffled. "I don't know if I've ever quite seen an inning like that, especially in World Series or postseason game," he said. "You can't make mistakes against a team like the Dodgers. That inning the Yankees gave them six outs."

Former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was damning, adding: "This is one of the greatest meltdowns that I've ever seen."

Stanton put the Yankees back 6-5 in front with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but Lux and Betts came through with sac flies off closer Luke Weaver in the eighth to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead that right-handers Blake Treinen and Walker Buehler refused to relinquish.

Agencies via Xinhua