Game 5 of the World Series was a wild ride for Aaron Judge.
The star player broke out of his postseason slump by hitting his first Series home run on Wednesday night, connecting for a two-run shot in the first inning that gave the New York Yankees the lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He also made an impressive catch while crashing into the fence but later dropped an easy fly ball, which helped the Dodgers score five runs and tie the game at 5 in the fifth inning.
Before the home run, Judge was hitting just .152 in October and .133 in his first World Series. He hit a 403-foot homer to right-center on the first pitch from starter Jack Flaherty.
Three innings later, Judge made an incredible catch to prevent Freddie Freeman from getting extra bases. Freeman hit a ball to deep left-center, and Judge sprinted to catch it, slamming into the fence near the 399-foot mark.
From his knees, the 6-foot-7 center fielder tossed the ball to teammate Alex Verdugo to send it back into the infield. Judge smiled and winked at Verdugo as the Yankee Stadium crowd chanted “MVP! MVP!”
However, in the fifth inning, Judge lost focus on Tommy Edman’s soft liner at the last moment and dropped it, allowing two runners to get on base with no outs.
After two more defensive mistakes by the Yankees, the Dodgers tied the game when Freeman hit a two-run single, and Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run double off Gerrit Cole with two outs.
New York was down 3-1 in the best-of-seven Series after winning 11-4 on Tuesday night, which stopped a potential four-game sweep.
Juan Soto was on base with a one-out walk when Judge hit his home run. This was Judge’s 16th postseason homer and third this year. He is expected to win his second AL MVP award in three years next month.
He hadn’t hit a home run in 29 plate appearances since he tied the game with a homer in Cleveland during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on October 17. Judge also homered in Game 2 of that series.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed Judge with another home run off Flaherty, marking the fifth time the Yankees have hit back-to-back homers in a World Series, and the first since Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson did it in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium in 1977.
This was the 14th instance of back-to-back homers in Yankees postseason history. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton had consecutive homers in the eighth inning of Game 3 in the ALCS.
Judge started to show signs of breaking out in Game 4, where he went 1 for 3 and reached base three times through a walk, being hit by a pitch, and a single.
He got an RBI with a hit in the eighth inning, making the score 11-4. This was his first RBI of the Series and seemed to be just a bonus. However, that swing might have sparked something in Judge, as he pumped his fist after rounding first base.
