The New York Yankees looked like they were going to force a Game 6 in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers after an early offensive spurt— and then the fifth inning happened.
Despite taking a 5-0 lead into the fifth, the Yankees saw their championship chances dwindle every second in that inning as New York suffered one of its most embarrassing defensive meltdowns in postseason history. In one of several mistakes committed by New York, Aaron Judge flubbed a routine catch on Tommy Edman’s line drive for his first error of the year.
At that moment, Lakers great and part-time Dodgers owner Magic Johnson was seated and ready to watch his team complete the comeback.
"I was thinking, ‘Thank God,’" Johnson said of Judge’s blunder. "Because the momentum, (the Yankees) had the stadium rocking. And once that happened, all the momentum switched."
"I had the jet fueled up because the Yankees were doing everything right, they were pitching strong, they were hitting home runs,” continued Johnson. “And they had everything going. But this changed the game for us. And then here we come, scoring five runs. And then I thought we had a shot."
"They had the stadium rocking... all the momentum switched."@Dodgers part-owner @MagicJohnson knows momentum is everything in sports, and he describes the feeling during that 5th inning comeback.#WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/ZHrdw2eoiJ
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 31, 2024
The Dodgers would send 10 batters to the plate and score five runs during the Yankees’ fifth-inning collapse, opening the door for them to take control of the game and beat the Yanks, 7-6, to clinch the franchise’s eighth championship.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Magic Johnson Was So Happy Watching Yankees’ Fifth-Inning Implosion in World Series.
