The Yankees couldn’t get out of their own way in what proved to be an extremely costly fifth inning.

Oct 30, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) drops a fly ball during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images / James Lang-Imagn Images

Everything was going right for the New York Yankees. They kept their season alive on Tuesday, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in blowout fashion to trim their series deficit to 3-1. The odds were still stacked against them, obviously, but the Yankees had a path to, at the very least, get back to Los Angeles – if not make history by completing what would’ve been a comeback unlike one we’ve ever seen before.

The momentum only continued to point in their direction in the first inning when Aaron Judge’s bat came alive with his first World Series home run. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a long home run of his own. Giancarlo Stanton joined the party in the bottom of the third inning with a bullet of a home run. It was 5-0 New York with their ace, Gerrit Cole, dealing.

Unfortunately, it all unraveled in the fifth inning. It all started when Kiké Hernandez recorded the first Dodgers hit of the night. A comedy of errors followed. New York’s unraveling in the fifth inning opened the door for the Dodgers to complete one of the more bizarre and shocking comebacks in recent memory. They capped it off with a World Series win.

New York made three defensive errors in the fifth inning, but not all three were created equally. Here’s a ranking of them from terrible to inexcusable.

3) Anthony Volpe’s error allowed the Dodgers to load the bases

The Dodgers had their first two runners on in the fifth inning and a prime double-play candidate, Will Smith, coming up. A ground ball would’ve been huge to get from Cole as he attempted to keep the score at 5-0 New York. He got that ground ball, but the result was far from what anyone expected.

Smith hit a soft ground ball to Anthony Volpe’s right. He fielded it cleanly, and attempted to get the force out at third base. A poor throw allowed Kiké Hernandez to make it there safely, loading the bases with nobody out – opening the door to a Dodgers rally.

I actually think Volpe made a fine decision here. His momentum was taking him toward third base, and he would’ve gotten Hernandez with a good throw. Unfortunately, the throw was bounced, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. failed to corral a tough hop.

It’s a play Volpe absolutely should’ve made, especially with the fact that he’s usually a strong defender, but it wasn’t exactly the easiest of plays to execute either. It’s bad, but not close to the worst of New York’s fifth inning blunders.

2) Gerrit Cole failed to put a close to the inning by choosing not to cover first base

Back-to-back Yankees errors allowed the Dodgers to load the bases with nobody out, giving them a chance to cut deep into their 5-0 deficit. Despite the errors made behind him, Cole was unfazed. He struck out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded to keep the score at 5-0 and give himself a path out of the inning. He was one out away from the biggest escape job of the season.

When Mookie Betts hit a ground ball to first base, it felt as if Cole had gotten out of the inning. A routine out was about to be executed – until it wasn’t. The Yankees had two ways of getting the out at first base and failed to execute either of them, allowing a Dodgers run to score and extending the inning. We all know what happened next.

It would’ve been a tough play, but had Anthony Rizzo not looked up and wondered what Gerrit Cole was doing, he probably could’ve gotten Betts at first base. The big blunder, though, was Cole’s refusal to cover first base on the play. He had started heading to first, but stopped once Rizzo was about to field the ground ball. Why Cole stopped is anyone’s best guess.

Covering first base as a pitcher when a ground ball is hit to the first baseman is as routine as it gets. Cole even covered first base on a ground ball hit to Rizzo with Betts batting in the first inning of this game! His refusal to get over there might not have been an error in the box score, but it was a mental error which played a massive role in costing New York.

1) Aaron Judge dropped a fly ball he usually catches in his sleep

Game 5 felt like Aaron Judge’s night. He had struggled all postseason long, and finally showed signs of life. The two-run homer he hit in the first inning looked like the player we saw in the regular season. He even made an unbelievable catch in the fourth inning to rob Freddie Freeman of another extra-base hit and end a potential Dodgers rally before it even could get started. Unfortunately, all of what he did before the fifth inning went out of the window when Judge dropped as routine of a fly ball as it gets.

I mean, how does this happen? Tommy Edman hit a lazy fly ball to center field, and Judge just… dropped it. Judge was there, the ball was going to land right in his glove, but he just failed to secure it. It’s a play Judge can make in his sleep. It’s a play any MLB player can make easily. Judge just dropped it.

The Dodgers led off the inning with their first hit of the game, giving themselves some form of hope, but then Cole bounced back by recording what was sure to be a routine out. Judge’s error gave the Dodgers even more of a reason to believe, and opened the floodgates for what turned out to be a season-defining inning.

To make matters worse, this wasn’t some scrub out there in center field. This was Judge’s first error of the season. He saved it for the most routine of plays on the biggest of stages. Just a shocking error that changed the season entirely.