Former Yankee responds to Dodgers trash talk with game-changing error in Tokyo Series

The 2025 MLB season officially kicked off Tuesday morning in Japan as the Los Angeles Dodgers took down the Chicago Cubs in the first game of the Tokyo Series. Of course, there was some sort of New York Yankees storyline involved here.

Former Yankees infielder Jon Berti, who arrived via trade right before the start of the 2024 season, made a game-changing error that helped LA secure its lead and never look back. After the Cubs removed Shōta Imanaga from the game, it all unraveled.

In the top of the fifth, with runners on first and third, Tommy Edman collected an RBI single to tie the game 1-1. With runners on first and second and one out, the Cubs had a chance to get out of the inning, or at least limit the damage.

Teoscar Hernández, the next batter, grounded into a fielder's choice. Matt Shaw collected the chopper and threw it to Berti, who was covering second base. That should've been the end of it, but Berti attempted to turn two when there was no chance of that happening and with the runner making a good slide to disrupt the throw.

Berti airmailed a wildly late relay to first base, allowing another run to score to make it 2-1. Then Will Smith singled in the next at-bat to make it 3-1. That effectively ended the game.

Former Yankees infielder Jon Berti makes costly error in Tokyo Series vs Dodgers

From that point on, the Cubs didn't record another hit, and their lone baserunner was Berti, who got hit by a pitch in the eighth. The margin for error in this game was razor thin, given the talent gap, and Berti's gaffe played a role in opening the door for the Dodgers.

Why is this of note? Well, if you recall, Berti was asked back in February about the Dodgers' post-World Series trash talk directed at the Yankees. And we're still trying to understand why he was one of the players asked about this for a multitude of reasons.

First of all, this interview happened on February 5. The World Series ended in October. Why were we still talking about this? Secondly, Berti played in a grand total of 25 games due to injury last year, before returning for the playoffs and then getting injured again. He was hardly a contributor, let alone an impassioned voice to respond to LA's incredibly pointed commentary.

With Berti getting the Tokyo Series opener start at second base for the Cubs, somehow, almost 7,000 miles away, the Yankees got roped into being the butt end of the joke when they couldn't have been less involved.