The Yankees' season ends in heartbreak as they snuff out Game 5 of the World Series

Giancarlo Stanton will celebrate his 35th birthday next week. The core ages and perhaps the untitled window begins to close.

They know nothing about the future of Soto, who is expected to receive the second-largest contract in baseball history — behind only Shohei Ohtani, whose Dodgers hugged on the infield turf as Soto watched from the home bench for what could be the final time.

The Yankees have failed to do what every other World Series contender who has lost their first three games has failed: force a Game 6.

They coached the Dodgers' bullpen in Game 4 before a Game 5 in which they built a five-run lead and squandered it in an error-filled collapse in the fifth inning.

“This inning is going to hurt for a while,” Anthony Rizzo said of a frame in which the Yankees gave the Dodgers six outs.

Early home runs from Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Stanton were squandered, and the Yankees took a 5-0 lead through the third inning.

Wasted was much more on a night when the Yankees left 12 on base, went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and allowed the tying and go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

Tommy Kahnle faced three batters and retired none before Luke Weaver came in and allowed sacrifice flights to Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts that tied the game.

Wasted was the only year the Yankees knew they would have Soto.

The impending free agent cost a lot – including Michael King, who became a star with the Padres – and enjoyed his time in the Bronx, but money will likely dictate where he signs.

“Stay with us,” was Stanton’s advice.

The 2024 Yankees made progress — reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009 — but not enough by Yankees standards.

In a season where the Yankees constantly tried to outdo their mistakes, those mistakes made the difference in an inning that will haunt this franchise.

In the fifth, they cost Gold Glover Anthony Volpe, the defensively strong Judge, and a mental error by Cole, the smart pitcher.

It started with a single from Kiké Hernandez. Then Tommy Edman hit a sinking liner up the middle and things began to unravel.

Judge got to the ball and appeared to look first at Hernandez to see if he had a chance to double Hernandez, but then the ball deflected off his glove, resulting in an error that led to two On without out was.

Three were out with no out when a batter later grounded Will Smith into the shortstop hole and Volpe threw a throw into the dirt to Chisholm to score the lead runner.

Cole struck out Lux and Ohtani to get one step away from a run, but Cole's steps failed him: Betts hit a game ball to first base, where Rizzo fielded and Cole didn't cover quickly enough, Betts reached and a run scored.

The first Dodgers run accidentally scored. The next four were more energetic, Freddie Freeman drove in a single to center and Teoscar Hernandez doubled over Judge's head to tie the game.

“We just didn’t get the job done,” Judge said. “Just a few mistakes along the way that hurt us.”

This is how the Yankees' season ended: they lamented what might have been and might have been, while also watching what was – a World Series that eluded them.