Dodgers react to Yankees’ dismal inning in World Series clincher: ‘Didn’t plan it out this way’

NEW YORK — The Dodgers were just as stunned as the 49,263 fans who attended Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Trailing 5-0 nothing in the top of the fifth inning, the Dodgers rallied to tie the game thanks to a pair of Yankees errors and fielding blunders. It led to an eventual 7-6 win, marking the largest comeback in a World Series-clinching game in baseball history.
“I definitely didn’t plan it out this way,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Certainly a lot of emotions from the way it started to certainly the way it finished. I’m just so grateful to be in this chair, and what our guys did, the resilience, the fight that they had.”
BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER
After Gerrit Cole allowed his first hit of the game, a one-out single to Kiké Hernández, Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman followed with a shallow fly ball to center field. Aaron Judge tracked the ball all along, but somehow couldn’t secure it in his glove, the ball bouncing onto the grass for an error, Judge’s first in all of 2024.
Now, with runners on first and second, Cole forced the next batter to ground to short, where Anthony Volpe had to range toward second base before attempting to throw the leading runner out at third. But the throw bounced off the dirt, allowing Hernández to slide in safely.
“I know they gave Volpe an error on that play, but if you slow it down and you see how Kiké ran to third base, that’s what set up that play,” World Series MVP Freddie Freeman said. “Him having an unbelievable base running IQ there, and just to capitalize.”
With the bases loaded, Cole seemed to settle back into a rhythm, striking out the next two batters.
With two outs, Cole appeared to have gotten out of the inning without harm, forcing Mookie Betts to ground to first base. But Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Cole, both froze momentarily, allowing Betts to get on and Hernández to score from first.
“We just got a break on covering first base, so we got a couple of extra outs,” Roberts said. “It’s just good when you give a good team extra outs. It was great for us to take advantage of it.”
From there, the Yankees couldn’t recover. Freeman followed with a two-run single and Teoscar Hernández with a game-tying, two-run double.
“For us to get it back to even,” Freeman said, “you could just feel the momentum just coming along.”
In the end, the Dodgers came away with the win with an assist from the Yankees.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Manny Gómez may be reached at [email protected].