It was the debacle to end all debacles.
A miscommunication between Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a routine ground ball contributed to one of the most cataclysmic innings in Yankees history on Wednesday, when the Bombers let Game 5 slip out of their hands and into the Dodgers’, who rallied to a 7-6 victory to win the 2024 World Series.
“I think I took a bad angle to the ball,” Cole told reporters as the dust of a disastrous fifth inning at Yankee Stadium settled. “I wasn’t sure, really, off the bat, how hard he hit it.
“I took a direct angle to [the grounder], as if to cut it off, because I didn’t know how hard he hit it. By the time the ball got by me I was not in the position to cover first. Neither [myself nor Rizzo] were. Based on the spin of the baseball, and [Rizzo] having to secure it, and just a bad read off the bat…”
The Yankees held a five-run lead at the top of the fifth inning and seemed poised to keep their World Series dreams alive.
That all came crashing down following a series of blunders, which included a botched throw to third base by shortstop Anthony Volpe and a muffed line-drive catch by Aaron Judge, allowing the Dodgers to creep back into the game.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Dodgers star Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first with Rizzo failing to charge while Cole — who initially ran toward the bag — stopped.
“Those balls off righties, those are the hardest balls for us [first basemen to field] … I kind of was going for it, and then it kicked one way, so I had to really make sure to catch it first,” Rizzo explained afterward.
“I looked up to flip [the ball to Cole] and, uh, that’s what happened…”
Los Angeles’ five runs in the fifth tied the game, and two more in the eighth proved to be the difference.
“Pitchers are always taught to get over, no matter what,” Rizzo said. “It was just a weird spinning [ball] that I had to really make sure to [secure]. And I think, even coming through [and going directly] to first, I don’t know if I would have [gotten] him.”
In addition to pondering the “would’ve,” “could’ve,” “should’ve” moments of the World Series, Rizzo is now entering uncertain waters as a looming free agent.
“The uncertainty of what this clubhouse looks like next year is definitely up in the air. But when you lose like this, it’s more just giving each other hugs and letting each other know how much they mean to you,” he said.
Rizzo has been with the Yankees since July 2021, when he was traded by the Cubs midway through the season.
