The Yankees can’t hide from their mistakes against another heavyweight

LOS ANGELES – Hey Yankees, you’re not in Kansas City anymore.

Or Cleveland.

The light part of the postseason program is gone, and on the other side of the World Series field is a mirror image of the Yankees – only the one playing cleanly. One that will surely make the Yankees pay for their transgressions in a way that the less star-studded, less powerful Royals and Rangers could not.

The Yankees made mistakes on the field and on the bases and couldn’t overcome it. Not in the wall of noise that was Dodger Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series. Not when the Yankees managed to survive Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the bottom of the order in the 10th and the Dodgers still had Freddie Freeman perform a Kirk imitation of Gibson.

The Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the top 10, thanks in large part to a home run by Jazz Chisholm. But Jake Cousins ​​struck out Gavin Lux with one out in the bottom of the inning. Tommy Edman then hit a grounder to center. Oswaldo Cabrera came on defense in the 10th minute after Gleyber Torres was brutalized in the ninth set. It was a strong backhand, but if Cabrera makes it, he’ll have a chance to put it out. However, the ball flew away from him.

That left Ohtani with two. Nestor Cortes was added to the lineup after being named to the World Series lineup after being sidelined since mid-September with an elbow injury. Ohtani threw the ball toward the left-field line, and Alex Verudgo made a sensational play, diving into the left-field corners to catch it. However, since he was out of the game, the runners were allowed to advance one base.

So Betts was brought in to set up a left-on-left matchup against Freeman. The Dodgers’ first baseman missed two of the last three NLCS games against the Mets – both started by lefties – with a sprained right ankle.

Los Angeles won the first game of the World Series in 1988 when Kirk Gibson singled to right field off Dennis Eckersley at Dodger Stadium and then famously hobbled around the bases. Freeman crushed the ball in the same direction off Cortes’ first-pitch fastball for a grand slam.

That made it 6-3 in the first game of the 120th World Series, heartbreaking for the Yankees, who helped the Dodgers win.

The Dodgers’ first two runs came on pitches.

Juan Soto was unable to fend off a ball spinning away from him in the fifth inning that, if played properly, would either be caught and held for a double, but he hit a triple to Enrique Herndnez and Torres allowed Soto’s throw to kick away from him, allowing Ohtani add an extra base to his double after an error in the eighth inning. Because they finished third, both were able to score on sacrifice flies.

In the top of the 10th, Chisholm singled to second, Anthony Rizzo was intentionally lost and Chisholm stole third. Anthony Volpe then hit a slow ground shot before Tommy Edman jumped up and Chisholm scored the game-winning goal. But for some reason, Rizzo stopped short of second base and was easily pushed out. Whether the Yankees would have scored more if he had simply slid safely into the net, we will never know.

But despite Aaron Judge’s errors and no-hitter – things the Yankees managed to do against weaker AL Central opponents – the Yankees advanced. But can they do it here.

Judge was 1-for-5 and struck out his first three batters. He had two outs and two outs in the ninth and a chance to break the tie after Soto intentionally stepped in front of him. But he jumped out.

The Yankees simply cannot outdo their mistakes if Aaron Judge continues to suffer large-scale failures in the postseason.

Remember when the question was asked how long he would walk on purpose? The answer is once per postseason. But on Friday night, Dave Roberts ordered Soto to appear before the umpire with two outs and one runner on second.

So Judge had a chance to break the tie, but he picked up the pop-up skyscraper, stopping. In the postseason, he’s 6-for-36 with 16 strikeouts. He is hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

If Umpire hit like Giancarlo Stanton in October, the Yankees would have just put Umpire in Monument Park.

Stanton clearly turned around another postseason game, as he did throughout October. Jack Flaherty, almost a Yankee, was ahead of Gerrit Cole. The Yankees were down 1-0 in the sixth quarter. And Dodger Stadium, where one star after another appears on the scoreboard asking for more volume, was tilted.

But no one blocks noise like Stanton. Verbal. Written. Crowd.

He was down 0-2 with one out and one out in the sixth period – after Soto’s leadoff single and umpire’s third strikeout in three at-bats. Flaherty then dangled behind a curve that hovered too deliciously in the inner third. And Stanton did Stanton — he produced the hardest ball hit since tracking began in 2016: 180.6 km/h. He fell 412 feet to the left.

This time, however, Stanton’s strength could not make a difference. Because the Yankees still can’t get enough of Judge. They stubbornly play in a sloppy style. And because they are no longer in Kansas City or Cleveland.

They’re playing in Los Angeles against another superpower that will make the Yankees pay for their mistakes.