Yankees’ Defensive Disaster Dooms World Series Dreams Vs. Dodgers

The New York Yankees showed signs of life Tuesday night, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-4, in Game 4 to stay alive in the 2024 World Series. New York took the first step in trying to become the second team ever in baseball history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit along with the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

That extended the series to Game 5 with the Yankees sending ace Gerrit Cole to the mound.

That gave the group confidence.

The Yankees got even more confidence when Aaron Judge, who drove in just one run in the first four games amid major postseason struggles, drilled a two-run home run in the first inning to send the crowd into a frenzy. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton added solo home runs as the Yankees took a 5-0 lead into the fifth inning.

That’s when self-inflicted wounds began the unraveling process with Cole on the mound.

Aaron Judge dropped a line drive off the bat of Tommy Edman. Anthony Volpe skipped a bad throw to third base trying to get the lead runner that loaded the bases. Cole then got the ground ball he needed facing Mookie Betts with the bases loaded and two outs.

The only problem? Cole did not cover first base, leaving Anthony Rizzo with no one to go to as Betts reached first and the Dodgers got a run. Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez responded with consecutive two-RBI hits to the tie the game in stunning fashion.

The defense told the story for the Yankees: Cole allowed five runs in the frame, all of them were unearned.

New York, which committed three errors in the loss, got the lead back on a Stanton sacrifice fly. Then, the Yankees hurt themselves again. Gavin Lux tied the game at six with a sacrifice fly. Shohei Ohtani loaded the bases when Austin Wells committed catcher’s interference. Betts, who helped eliminate the Yankees in the 2018 American League Division Series with the Red Sox, immediately cashed in with another sacrifice fly to put Los Angeles in front with a 7-6 lead.

The Yankees never recovered as the Dodgers pieced together the final outs to clinch their first World Series championship since 2020 and their first in a full season since 1988. The Yankees remain without a World Series title since 2009.