What went wrong for the Yankees at the defining moment of the World Series?

It was the debacle to end all debacles.

A miscommunication between Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a routine groundball contributed to one of the most disastrous innings in Yankees history on Wednesday, as the Bombers let Game 5 slip from their hands and into the hands of the Dodgers, who rebounded to a 7-6 victory and won the 2024 World Series.

“I think I hit the ball from a bad angle,” Cole told reporters as the dust settled from a disastrous fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. “Right away I wasn’t sure how hard he hit.

“I took a direct angle to (the grounder) like I was going to cut him off because I didn’t know how hard he hit him. As the ball passed me, I was unable to cover first. Neither (me nor Rizzo) were. Based on the spin of the baseball and (Rizzo's) need to back it up and just a bad read on the bat…”

The Yankees had a five-run lead entering the fifth inning and appeared poised to keep their World Series dreams alive.

That all fell apart after a series of errors that included a botched throw to third base by shortstop Anthony Volpe and a muffed line drive catch by Aaron Judge, allowing the Dodgers to get back into the game.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Dodgers star Mookie Betts hit a grounder to first, Rizzo failed to attack, while Cole – who initially ran toward the bag – stopped.

“Those balls from the right-handers, those are the hardest balls for us (first basemen on the field) … I kind of went for it and then it went one way, so I had to really make sure to hit it first catch,” Rizzo later explained.

“I looked up to throw (the ball to Cole) and, uh, that's exactly what happened…”

Los Angeles' five runs in the fifth tied the game, and two more in the eighth made the difference.

“Pitchers are always taught to get over it, no matter what,” Rizzo said. “The ball was just spinning strangely, I had to be really careful to secure it. And I think even if I had come through first (and made it right away), I don’t know if I would have (caught him).”

In addition to reflecting on the “would have,” “would have,” and “should have” moments of the World Series, Rizzo is now heading into uncertain waters as an impending free agent.

“The uncertainty of what this clubhouse will look like next year is definitely in the air. But when you lose like that, it's more about hugging each other and showing each other how much they mean to you,” he said.

Rizzo has been with the Yankees since July 2021, when he was traded from the Cubs mid-season.