For the first time in this ALDS, a Yankees starting pitcher did their job.
But the bats, seemingly back to life after a spirited game three victory, went back into hiding as they had been for much of this postseason, and went out with a whimper against a long line of Blue Jays relievers in a game four that many believed was slanted in New York’s favor.
Cam Schlittler followed up his history playoff debut with a solid 6.1 innings, but a lack of offense and a back-breaking error by Jazz Chisholm sent the Yanks home for the winter, bowing out in a 5-2 loss in game four and again ending a promising season without a title. After winning their first pennant in 15 years a season ago, the Yankees failed to get back to the ALCS after being thoroughly outplayed by the rival Blue Jays, save for Tuesday’s game three.
Toronto, without a set starter for the critical game four, sent out Louis Varland, Mason Fluharty, Seranthony Dominguez, Eric Lauer, Yariel Rodriguez, Brendon Little, Braydon Fisher, and Jeff Hoffman to silence the top offense in baseball in 2025. They did the job, while the Blue Jay bats pulled away in the seventh after Chisholm booted what looked to be a certain inning-ending double play ground ball. The Yankees called on Devin Williams to suffocate the late Toronto rally, but the polarizing reliever allowed a two-run single to Nathan Lukes to suck the remaining air out of the sold-out crowd.
When the Yanks put the leadoff man on base in the bottom of the seventh, Wells flew out, Volpe struck out for the third time, and an ice-cold Trent Grisham popped out in foul ground to end the threat, and once again send the Bombers quietly into the offseason.
Schlittler, so dominant in his first career postseason start against the Red Sox a week ago, ran into immediate trouble in the first, serving up a leadoff double to George Springer on a hard line drive down the left field line. The usual suspect in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in Springer, lacing a two-strike cutter on the outer half down the right field line, staying fair by inches to put Toronto ahead 1-0, the fourth time in as many games that the Jays struck first.
Schlittler escaped further trouble in the first and settled in while the Yanks navigated Toronto’s band of relievers. The Bombers broke through in the bottom of the third from an unlikely source in Ryan McMahon, who ripped a sweeper from southpaw Fluharty into the right field seats to tie the game and give the typically light-hitting McMahon his first career postseason homer.
After cruising through three frames following the shaky start, Schlittler blinked again in the fifth. The red-hot Ernie Clement lined a single to left to lead things off, and Andres Gimenez found a hole with a ground ball single to put runners on the corners with nobody out for the top of the order. The gounder from Gimenez appeared to be a potential double play ball, but Schlittler pulled back after an initial bid to snag the bouncer, believing Chisholm was waiting behind him and shading up the middle. But Chisholm had been set up closer to first, and the ball snuck through instead of a potential two-out swing.
Springer followed with a sac fly to center to put the Blue Jays back in front, but Schlittler avoided further trouble with a big strikeout of Guerrero to end the inning.
While Schlittler did his job, the Yankee bats could not do the same in a matchup many expected them to feast on. Each Jays reliever to appear from the revolving door beyond the left center field wall helped maintain their narrow lead. Lauer struck out Grisham to lead off the sixth and intentionally walked Aaron Judge before forcing Cody Bellinger to fly out to left for the second out. John Schneider then called on Rodriguez, and after walking Giancarlo Stanton to put the tying run in scoring position, Chisholm weakly grounded out to second to end the inning.
Chisholm cost the Yanks again in the seventh. Schlittler forced what appeared to be an inning-ending double play ball off the bat of Gimenez, but Chisholm booted the hard grounder that was just a step to his glove side, putting runners at the corners and ending Schlittler’s night. Williams came on in relief and struck out Springer for a crucial second out, but Lukes lined a single to left to plate two huge insurance runs for Toronto.
As it had in their elimination game the season prior, defense had come back to bite the Bombers, only this year, it came two rounds earlier.
The Jays tacked on another insurance run in the eighth off of Camilo Doval, as the reality set in for the 47,000-plus in the Bronx that this would yet again not be their year. A bases-loaded rally in the eighth offered the crowd one last chance at hope to live to see another game, but Wells flew out lazily to left on the first pitch he saw from Hoffman to end the threat.
The aggressive approach from Wells came after Hoffman looked erratic in a walk to pinch hitter Ben Rice.
Now, the Yanks enter another critical offseason where another year has come off the calendar of Judge’s prime, and the Bombers failed to reach the ALCS in a postseason where Judge finally looked like his MVP self. After carrying the team to a win in game three, Judge laced a single in his first at-bat, smoked a lineout up the middle, was intentionally walked, and banged an RBI double off the wall with two outs in the ninth when the game - and the season - was all but finished.