Aaron Judge breaks World Series slump with a home run, then makes a costly mistake that sparks the Dodgers' recovery

NEW YORK (AP) — Game 5 of the World Series was quite a roller coaster ride for Aaron Judge.

The star slugger rallied from a postseason lull with his first Series home run on Wednesday night, hitting a two-run shot in the first inning that gave the New York Yankees the lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He also made a spectacular catch as he hit the fence – and then dropped an easy fly on an error that helped the Dodgers rally for five runs and tie the score at 5 in the fifth.

Judge hit just .152 in October and just .133 in his first Fall Classic before sending a 403-foot shot to right-center on the first pitch he saw from starter Jack Flaherty.

Three innings later, Judge made an outstanding dig, robbing Freddie Freeman of extra bases.

Freeman sent a drive deep to left-center that Judge fell to the ground when his right hand and shoulder hit the fence hard near the 399-foot sign. From his knees, the 1.90 meter tall midfielder threw the ball to his teammate Alex Verdugo, who threw it back into the infield.

Then Judge smiled and winked at Verdugo as the Yankee Stadium crowd chanted “MVP!” MVP!”

However, in the fifth round, Judge lost sight of Tommy Edman's softliner at the last moment and dropped him for an error that put two runners on with no one out. After two more defensive errors by New York, the Dodgers evened the score when Freeman hit a two-run single and Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run double off Gerrit Cole with two outs.

New York trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after winning 11-4 on Tuesday night to avoid a four-game sweep.

Juan Soto was on a one-out walk when Judge scored. It was the 16th postseason home run and third of the year for Judge, who is expected to win his second AL MVP award in three years next month.

He had not gone deep in 29 plate appearances since a tie at Cleveland late in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 17. Judge also hit a home run in the second game of that series.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with another home run off Flaherty, giving the Yankees back-to-back home runs in a World Series for the fifth time and first since Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium in 1977.

It was the 14th set of consecutive home runs in Yankees postseason history. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back shots in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the ALCS.

In Game 4, Judge showed early signs of a breakout as he went 1 for 3 and reached base three times with a walk, a hit by pitch and a single.

In the eighth inning, he scored a run on a base hit that made the score 11-4, his first RBI of the series and seemingly just the icing on the cake. But perhaps something clicked in that swing for Judge, who pumped his fist after rounding first base.

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