The Yankees looked destined for a dreadful finish to the 2025 postseason, on the cusp of being swept in a playoff series for the second time in the Aaron Boone era after Carlos Rodon’s dud put the Bombers behind 6-1 in Tuesday’s must-win game three.
The ammo was there for the tough questioned to be raised to Boone, Brian Cashman, and the rest of the Yankee brass. Another season of high expectations was on the cusp of falling well short of a title, with the hated Blue Jays poised to celebrate on the Bombers’ own soil.
Until Aaron Judge delivered the signature October moment the fanbase had been craving for eight years.
After the Yanks clawed back for two runs to trim the deficit to 6-3, Judge turned on a 99 mph fastball and clanged it off the left field foul pole for a game-tying, three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to ignite the capacity crowd and breathe life back into New York’s season. The turning point in the game set the tone for a huge comeback that sealed a 9-6 win and ensured a game four on Wednesday night.
The massive three-run shot was Judge’s third hit of the night and 11th of the playoffs, and his mammoth home run was the latest step towards changing the narrative surrounding his postseason prowess.
Toronto turned to the hard-throwing Louis Varland to face Judge in a tipping point in the game, and the Yankee captain fell behind 0-2 before somehow turning on a 99.7 mph fastball that was 1.2 feet inside from the middle of the plate. The towering Judge stood in place in the batter’s box as he - and the nearly 50,000 in attendance - watched the flight of the ball that left his bat at 103 mph. There was a roar of excitement off the bat, a collective hush as everyone in the building waited to see if the ball would stay fair, and an eruption of relief and elation after the biggest home run of Judge’s career struck the foul pole.
"I never had one like that right at the foul pole," Judge told FOX Sports after the big win. "Thankfully the ghosts kind of took that one over and kept it fair for us, that was a nice one."
The Judge home run awoke the rest of the Yankee offense, which tallied another two runs in the fifth - one a no-doubt solo shot from a previously slumping Jazz Chisholm - and another in the sixth while the bullpen held strong and tamed what had been a relentless Jays lineup through 21 innings of this ALDS.
The Yankees appeared headed for that dreaded sweep two and a half innings into game three. Needing a quick start to keep the Bronx crowd into the game and believing in the start of a miracle comeback, Rodon did not do his part. After a strikeout of George Springer to start the game, the Yankee lefty walked Davis Schneider after jumping ahead 1-2, eliminating the option to pitch around Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero, who came into the game with gaudy numbers against Rodon in his career (10-for-17 with a homer), got ahead in the count 2-0 before blasting a hanging slider into the Jays bullpen for a no-doubt home run, taking the crowd right out of it in the top of the first.
The mammoth blast from Guerrero was his third of the series after coming into the postseason having not left the yard in nearly a month.
The Yanks answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a one-run rally, started by a line drive single from Judge, raising his playoff batting average to .474. Ben Rice reached on a booted ground ball by former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Giancarlo Stanton made it count with a bullet single to left to plate Judge and cut the deficit in half against Shane Bieber.
Toronto took its two-run lead right back in the third, and then some. A leadoff double by Schneider and an intentional walk to Guerrero put runners on first and second with nobody out. After Alejandro Kirk lined out, Daulton Varsho lifted a looper to left center, which Cody Bellinger charged but dropped after attempting a sliding catch. Trent Grisham rushed the throw into second to try and get the force out, as Guerrero had to hold on contact, but Guerrero just beat the throw, and the attempted out at second allowed Schneider to score. Chisholm was late noticing the potential play at the plate and was delayed in his throw home.
Varsho’s hit was ruled a single, and Ernie Clement followed with a two-strike single to left, with Guerrero again just beating out a throw, this one at the plate on the throw from Bellinger in left. The play at the plate allowed the runners to advance to second and third, which proved important after Anthony Santander laced a single to right, scoring another two runs as the Blue Jays continued their all-out offensive assault on Yankee pitching, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.
That was it for Rodon, who turned in one of his worst performances of an otherwise very strong season when the Yanks needed his best to help save the season.
Meanwhile, the ugly top of the third appeared to be a devastating sequel to the Yankees’ defensive meltdown in game five of last year’s World Series, but Judge ensured it would be nothing more than an afterthought.
Once again, the Yankee bats struck back, touching up Bieber as they often have throughout his career. Trent Grisham began the bottom of the third with a double, and Judge drove him in with a double to the left field corner, his 10th hit of the postseason. Stanton tacked on another with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in deep straightaway center, trimming the deficit to 6-3. Judge did his thing in one inning later, changing the trajectory of the game and possibly the series.
"We need another one tomorrow," Boone said. "We'll enjoy this one for about 10 minutes and then get ready for tomorrow."
Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Devin Williams, and David Bednar handled the rest with 6.2 shutout innings, bailing out Rodon and securing a season-saving win heading into a game four with rookie sensation Cam Schlittler on the mound, fresh off of one of the best pitching performances in Yankees playoff history in last week’s do-or-die game three against Boston.