Aaron Judge’s difficult October came to a miserable end on Wednesday, as the Yankees’ superstar found himself at the center of a game-changing, calamitous fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series.
With the Yankees fighting to keep their improbable championship aspirations alive, the presumptive American League MVP finally hit his first home run of the Fall Classic when he launched a two-run homer in the first inning.
With the addition of a spectacular, crashing catch at the wall in the fourth, it seemed as if Judge was working on the type of postseason performance that Yankees fans have been dreaming about.
Then came the nightmare.
With the Yankees leading, 5-0, in the fifth and Enrique Hernández having already singled, Judge dropped a soft, routine, chest-high line drive to center field. The error set off a catastrophic chain of events, as Anthony Volpe followed with an error of his own before Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo failed to record an out on a squibbed groundball to first base.
With the Yankees playing the same sloppy baseball that repeatedly bit them in the rear end this season, the Dodgers scored five unearned runs in the fifth and eventually won the game, 7-6, and the World Series.
“You can’t give a good team like that extra outs,” Judge said after sparking the collapse. “It starts with me there with the line drive coming in.”
Asked what went wrong on the play, Judge simply said that he didn’t make it.
“We didn’t take care of the ball well enough in that inning,” Aaron Boone said. “Against a great team like that, they took advantage. It looked like just kind of that sinking liner that just Judgey missed.”
Judge’s costly gaffe ironically came during one of his better offensive nights of the postseason.
In addition to his home run, he added two walks and an eighth-inning double as the Yankees tried to rally. Even the one out he made, a flyout in the fourth, was hit hard, a welcomed sign for a player who had spent the past week expanding his zone.
But it was too little, too late for Judge, who went 2-for-15 (.133) with one RBI and seven strikeouts in the first four games of the World Series. He ended his seventh trip to the postseason 9-for-49 (.184) with three homers, nine RBI and 20 strikeouts.
Judge is now a .205/.318/.450 hitter with 16 home runs and 34 RBI over 58 career playoff games. That slash line falls to .160/.270/.378 over 31 postseason games since 2020.
“It definitely eats at you,” Judge said of his struggles earlier in the World Series. He later added that he felt like he had been letting his team down.
“He’s never let this team down,” countered close friend Anthony Rizzo, citing the captain’s leadership.
But for as responsible as Judge was for getting the Yankees to the playoffs, he also deserves blame for the way their season concluded.
The team was already facing insurmountable odds heading into Game 5, as no World Series team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit.
But Judge’s lackluster offensive production helped the Yankees dig that grave. His defensive lapse then served as one of several nails in the team’s coffin. Once the hole was filled, Judge could only express hope for the future after a season filled with promise ended in disappointment.
After nine seasons in the majors, this is the closest Judge has ever come to a championship.
Now he must enter the offseason knowing he did little to secure one while it was within reach.
“I know this is only going to fuel a lot of guys, fuel me especially. I want to be on the other side of it,” Judge said. “I think falling short in the World Series will stick with me until I die.”
