NEW YORK -- And with that, all rose as one at Yankee Stadium. Finally.

The full might of Aaron Judge at last entered the Fall Classic. With the long-awaited mighty swing of his bat, he dealt the first blow of the back-to-back homers with Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first inning as the Yankees roared to an early lead in Game 5 -- only to watch the Dodgers storm back for a 7-6 victory and the 2024 World Series championship.

Following a one-out walk to Juan Soto, Judge got a first-pitch fastball from Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty -- and this time, he did not miss, sending the baseball a Statcast-projected 403 feet to right-center and into a frenzied swarm of Bleacher Creatures. It marked the first World Series home run of Judge's career, his first extra-base hit of this World Series and his third big fly of the postseason.

The Yankees¡¯ lineup had been 0-for-13 in the first inning of World Series games before Judge set the resounding tone -- and, for both games at Yankee Stadium leading into his blast, he¡¯d looked to be building in the right direction.

Judge¡¯s plate discipline looked to find some footing as he went 0-for-3 with a walk in Game 3 on Monday. A day later, he took a hit-by-pitch and a walk and knocked an RBI single as he reached base multiple times in a game for the first time since Game 4 of the ALCS.

And now, the culmination of it all.

¡°With Aaron, it's always one pitch away from getting as hot as anyone's ever seen,¡± Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said before the game.

With the captain at the helm, the crew followed, with Chisholm¡¯s 392-foot blast -- his first since ALDS Game 2 -- giving the Yankees back-to-back blasts for the 14th time in club postseason history and for the fifth time in their storied history in the World Series.