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World Series: Yankees slugger Aaron Judge breaks out of the slump with his first home run

NEW YORK (AP) — Game 5 of the World series has been quite a rollercoaster for Aaron Judge.

The star slugger emerged from a postseason slump with 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 a spectacular catch as he banged hard against the outfield fence – and then dropped an easy fly for an embarrassing error that helped Los Angeles put up five points and tie the score at 5 in the fifth.

New York’s bullpen squandered a one-run lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers held on for a 7-6 victory which achieved their eighth championship and second in five years.

“You can’t give a good team that many extra outs,” Judge said. “It starts with me coming in there on the line drive. I played that wrong. So that doesn’t happen, then I think we have a different story tonight.

Judge hit just .152 in October and .133 in his first Fall Classic before sending a 400-foot shot to right-center on the first pitch he saw from starter Jack Flaherty.

Three innings later, Judge made an excellent grab to rob Freddie Freeman of extra bases.

Freeman sent a drive to deep left-center that Judge was running toward when he crashed his right hand and shoulder into the fence near the 400-foot sign. From his knees, the 6-foot-2 midfielder turned the ball to teammate Alex Verdugo to throw back into the infield.

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

In the fifth inning, however, Judge turned his attention away from Tommy Edman’s soft liner at the last minute and threw it away for his first error of the year, putting two runners on base with no one out.

“I just didn’t make the play,” he said.

After two more defensive miscues by New York, the Dodgers tied the score when Freeman hit a two-run single and Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run double off Gerrit Cole with two outs.

The 6-foot-1 Judge also walked twice and doubled in Game 5, but his costly error in center field loomed large.

“We just didn’t get the job done,” the Yankees captain said. “There were just a few mistakes along the way that hurt us.”

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

He hadn’t gone deep in 29 at-bats since a draw in Cleveland late in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 17. Judge also homered in Game 2 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 the first since Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson connected in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium in 1977.

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

Judge started showing minor signs of breaking out in Game 4, when he went 1 for 3 and reached base three times on a walk, a hit by pitch and a single. He singled in a run in the eighth inning to make it 11-4, his first RBI of the Series.

“We didn’t finish it,” Judge said. “The boys have had great years this year. It was fun playing with this group of guys. They really came together, guys we signed to come here or we traded for, they all fit this club perfectly.

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APMLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb