LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Judge is sinking deeper into a brutal postseason crisis, and with him the New York Yankees' championship chances are fading.

The Yankees' superstar slugger went 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in his first two World Series Games at Dodger Stadium in which New York's offense suffered two losses to Los Angeles.

Judge was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Game 2 on Saturday night. He had a hard time making any contact against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and reliever Blake Treinen, who fired him up for the first time with Juan Soto at second base in the ninth inning of the Dodgers' 4-2 win.

Judge struck out and missed the ball six times in his four at-bats in Game 2. The entire Dodgers team only managed this 12 times.

Judge will likely win his second American League MVP award after the season ends, but no one imagines an October hero.

He's 6 for 40 with two home runs and a whopping 19 strikeouts in these playoffs and has scored all six of his RBIs during a three-game stretch in the AL Championship Series. He is 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and has scored just once in his last 22 at-bats in that situation from past postseasons.

That's nothing new for one of the game's top hitters from April through September: Judge's career postseason average fell to .199 as the series moved to Yankee Stadium.

Nothing there World Series marquee matchup was more convincing than the match between Judge and Shohei Ohtanithe two most dangerous hitters in baseball.

But while Giancarlo Stanton and Freddie Freeman hit some memorable hits in the first two games, the two big names had exactly one big hit between them — and then Ohtani injured his left arm while slipping in the seventh inning of Game 2, putting his status with the Bronx in question.

Ohtani doubled off the wall to score the winning run in the eighth inning of Game 1, but the two-way superstar is just 1 for 8 with a walk and two strikeouts in the first two games, with repeated outs early in the count brought into play.

Judge went 1 for 5 in Game 1, with Jack Flaherty striking him out in his first three at-bats. His only hit was a solid two-out single to center in the seventh, but Stanton couldn't advance it.

Then he came out with two Yankees on base to end the ninth inning and failed to come through in a situation that was ripe for postseason heroics. Even worse, the Dodgers escorted Juan Soto to Judge, who couldn't make them pay.

Judge was dismal in his first postseason since signing a nine-year, $360 million contract after setting an AL record with 62 home runs in 2022 and beating Ohtani for the AL MVP award. New York missed the postseason last fall.

Judge led the majors with 58 home runs, 144 RBIs and an OPS of 1.159 this season. He hit .322 and scored 122 runs, leading the Yankees to the AL East title despite enduring a career-long 16-game home run drought in August and September.

The 6-foot-3 judge's powerful swing has been erratic and imprecise lately, although it has seemed to become more efficient in recent weeks. He still swings and misses at an alarming rate, including a bad swing on a slider from Yamamoto below the zone in the first inning of Game 2. He was often out before breaking pitches and behind on fastballs.

He flied out to right to end the third inning, and Yamamoto hit him again to end the fifth inning, with Judge hitting a vicious low splitter that slammed into him.

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