David Ortiz and former Yankees roasted New York ‘meltdown’ in World Series loss

The Yankees lose: The Dodgers clinched the 2024 World Series on Wednesday night in New York, defeating the Yankees 7-6 in Game 5. Los Angeles completed the 4-1 series win despite falling behind 5-0 early in the game.

Yet with the season hanging in the balance, the Yankees committed a series of errors — including two that came back-to-back in the pivotal fifth inning — that doomed their bid to send the series back to Los Angeles.

Aaron Judge, New York’s superstar centerfielder, dropped a routine fly ball with one on and nobody out in the fifth. In the very next at-bat, Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe committed another error with a low throw to third base.

Still, Yankee starter Gerrit Cole appeared to be on the verge of escaping the jam after he struck out two in a row. But with two outs, Mookie Betts managed to reach first base after a miscommunication between Cole and Anthony Rizzo resulted in neither reaching first base before Betts did.

Given yet another out, the Dodgers didn’t waste the opportunity, plating three more runs to tie the game at 5-5.

A defensive mishap struck again in the eighth inning, when a catcher interference call allowed Mookie Betts a chance to hit with runners in scoring position. The former Red Sox outfielder promptly hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, allowing Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman to score what proved to be the winning run.

After the game, the Fox Sports panel of two former Yankees (Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter) and one former Red Sox (David Ortiz) offered some unsparing commentary of what they’d just seen.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever quite seen anything like this, especially in a World Series or postseason game,” said Jeter, who won five championships in New York. “The Yankees made some mistakes. You can’t make mistakes against a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers. That particular inning, [New York] gave them six outs.”

Rodriguez tried to place the collapse in historical terms (though he conveniently omitted his own ignominious history as a member of the 2004 Yankees).

“Cole was great, but that’s not the story. I mean this was one of the greatest meltdowns that I’ve ever seen in 40 years,” said Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, Ortiz looked ecstatic at seeing his former rival lose on baseball’s biggest stage. Still, he provide some measured commentary on how the Dodgers charged through the open door left to them by the Yankees.

“You can’t ask for more than what Gerrit Cole did. But those three errors in that inning are not acceptable,” said Ortiz. “Especially playing against a great team like the Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Trivia: What manager is tied with Casey Stengel for all-time World Series wins?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He managed the Red Sox for two and a half seasons, but (like Stengel) won his seven World Series titles with the Yankees.

Scores and schedules:

The Celtics lost to the Pacers 135-132 on Wednesday, Boston’s first loss of the season. The team will be on the court on Friday in Charlotte against the Hornets at 7 p.m.

Tonight, the Bruins will play the Hurricanes in North Carolina at 7 p.m.

More from Boston.com:

The Red Sox ties: Mookie Betts, who the Red Sox traded to the Dodgers in 2020, drove in the winning run for Los Angeles in the World Series-clinching Game 5. The final Yankees out came from one of the players the Dodgers traded to the Red Sox in exchange for Betts: Alex Verdugo.

On this day: In 1980, the Celtics defeated the then-Kansas City Kings, 115-110. Boston was led by Cedric Maxwell, who totaled 24 points. Larry Bird contributed all over the box score, notching 22 points of his own along with eight rebounds and seven steals. Robert Parish added four blocks (to accompany 18 points and eight rebounds) in a strong team performance.

Daily highlight: Former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo — now with the rival Yankees — struck out for the final out of the 2024 World Series.