4 Yankees to blame for losing World Series to the Dodgers: Game 5 collapse seals fate

The New York Yankees tried their best to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the World Series. No team had ever accomplished that feat. They entered Wednesday night, hell-bent on making history at the expense of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees looked like they were on the verge of sending the series back to Los Angeles after taking an early 5-0 lead in Game 5 on Thursday night. But a fifth inning highlighted by three errors allowed the Dodgers to tie things up. But after sacrifice flies by Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning, the Dodgers won their eighth World Series title with a 7-6 victory.

For the Yankees, they made it back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009, but were completely outmatched by the Dodgers. The defense, the pitching, the hitting, and the decision-making all backfired on the Yankees in the worst way.

When it comes to Yankees to blame, these four stand out.

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4 Yankees to blame for getting outmatched by Dodgers in World Series

4. Nestor Cortes

The vibes were high for the Yankees in Game 1. The team was on the verge of taking a 1-0 series lead over the Dodgers, as long as they could get three outs in the bottom of the 10th inning. The problem is, manager Aaron Boone called upon Nestor Cortes to enter in relief and close things out. The thing is, Cortes hadn't pitched in over a month and had to face the top of the Dodgers order.

Cortes lucked out by getting Shohei Ohtani to fly out. But then, Cortes intentionally walked Mookie Betts to get to Freddie Freeman. Cortes threw one pitch with the bases loaded, and Freeman crushed it into the right field stands to give the team the 6-3 walk-off win.

This really set the tone for the Yankees for the rest of the series. While Cortes was working his way back, it's hard not to point to his performance in Game 1 as the turning point.

3. Clarke Schmidt

After dropping the first two games, the Yankees headed back to the Bronx, hoping to avoid an 3-0 hole. They needed to avoid using their bullpen and for that to happen, they needed Clarke Schmidt to have a solid, long start for Game 3.

Schmidt did not provide that.

In the first inning, Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani to start things off. He got Betts to flyout. But then, Schmidt threw a pitch that Freeman sent into the right field stands to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Then in the third inning, Betts hit an RBI single to score Tommy Edman, who was walked by Schmidt earlier. After walking Freeman and Max Muncy in two of their next three batters faced, Boone pulled Schmidt after 2.2 innings of work.

Schmidt allowed three earned runs on two hits, while striking out three batters and issuing four walks.

The Yankees needed Schmidt to have a great outing in Game 3, and he didn't provide it, and thus put the team in a 3-0 hole.

2. Aaron Judge

For the Yankees to have any chance of winning the World Series, they needed Aaron Judge to hit like he had throughout the entire regular season. Instead, the Judge who falters in the postseason showed up, and not the player who will earn the American League MVP award this offseason.

Judge didn't record his first RBI until the eighth inning of Game 4 to put the team up 11-4 over the Dodgers. In Game 5, Judge stepped up and gave the Yankees early momentum with a two-run homer in the first inning. This felt like Judge's World Series moment, as that homer would help the Yankees force a Game 6.

But then, Judge contributed to the disastrous fifth inning, where he dropped an easy pop-up. From there, it was the snowball effect, and it cost the Yankees.

In the World Series, Judge went 4-for-18 with one home run, two runs, three RBI, and seven strikeouts. If Judge had played better earlier, maybe the Yankees would have had a better chance. Instead, his bounce-back arrived too late.

1. Aaron Boone

Aaron Boone catches a lot of flak from Yankees fans due to his overly positive attitude even when the team loses in the worst ways imaginable. Yet, he managed to bring the Yankees back to the World Series for the first time in 15 years, as he did a solid job in the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals and the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians. He got to take his victory lap.

But in this series, Boone was outmatched by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Boone set the stage with a costly decision to throw in Nestor Cortes in the 10th inning against the top of the Dodgers order. That ended up with Freeman walking things off and giving the Dodgers a 1-0 series lead.

There was the lack of hitting in the batting order and refusing to make any real changes with Judge struggling.

Game 5 was the Boone era in a nutshell. They can power their way to a lead, but they can find ways to fumble it away. Specifically, being unable to play fundamental defense, as evidenced by the three errors in the fifth inning. Five unearned runs. It's inexcusable. But with Boone, his teams have always been sloppy on defense throughout his seven-year tenure as manager.

All of the fans who were critical of Boone's decision-making and how he runs the team were proven right in the World Series.