Yankees lose World Series to Dodgers after dreadful defense erases Game 5 lead

NEW YORK — The Yankees’ season ended in disaster on Wednesday, as the Dodgers capitalized on dreadful defense while securing their second championship since 2020.

With Los Angeles celebrating at Yankee Stadium, the Bombers could only blame themselves for a 7-6 loss in Game 5. The Yankees, trying to defy history and a 3-0 series deficit, once led, 5-0, as Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton all went deep while Alex Verdugo added an RBI single.

However, the not-so-fundamentally sound team erased that edge with a comedy of errors in the fifth inning, a fitting catastrophe for a club that endured its fair share of lapses in the field this season.

With Enrique Hernández having already singled, Judge — who made a sensational, crashing catch at the wall in the fourth — dropped a routine ball in center. The Dodgers then loaded the bases when Will Smith reached on an error from Anthony Volpe, who tried for a force out at third but spiked his throw to Chisholm.

Gerrit Cole then recorded two strikeouts, but a squibbed ball off Mookie Betts’ bat led to miscommunication between the pitcher, who didn’t cover first, and Anthony Rizzo, who didn’t show much urgency after fielding the soft grounder.

Still, the Dodgers only had one run after all that, as Hernández scored on the Betts ball.

But with Cole forced to record extra outs, Freddie Freeman lined a two-run single before Yankee killer Teoscar Hernández added a two-run double.

Just like that, the Yankees found themselves tied in a must-win game. Cole, meanwhile, left the mound after 38 pitches and zero earned runs in the fifth frame.

He ended the night with four hits, five runs (0 earned), four walks, six strikeouts and 108 pitches over 6 2/3 innings.

The Yankees were able to retake the lead in the sixth when Stanton provided a go-ahead sac fly, but Tommy Kahnle allowed three straight batters to reach in the eighth, forcing Luke Weaver to enter with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Unable to escape the jam, Weaver surrendered a game-tying sac fly to Gavin Lux before Austin Wells was called for catcher interference with Shohei Ohtani at the plate. Betts then added his own sac fly to give the Dodgers the lead for good.

A few outs later, the L.A. kicked off a party in the Bronx.

With the World Series coming to a quicker close than most envisioned, the Yankees remain championship-less since 2009.

With their fans frustrated by the drought and the team’s performance in this year’s Fall Classic, the pinstripers must now prepare for an offseason full of question marks. Whether or not Juan Soto remains with the club is at the top of the list, but the Yankees have several in-house free agents who may have played their final game with the team on Wednesday.

With Hal Steinbrenner preferring a lower payroll — even if Soto signs an exorbitant deal — it will be interesting to see how the Yankees shape their roster as they try to finally complete Mission 28 in 2025.

For now, however, they can only sit in sorrow after ending a promising season in utter disappointment.