THE BRONX — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had his moment in Toronto. Aaron Judge responded Tuesday night in New York.
The Blue Jays' typically tight defense had holes in Game 3, and the pitching wasn't much better.
The Yankees took full advantage—thanks to Judge's three-run homer—in a 9–6 victory to prevent a three-game American League Division Series sweep.
The Blue Jays are still in control, but will need to do better in Game 4 on Wednesday to avoid a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday at Rogers Center.
“Walks and errors will kill you against this team,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “So I think that was kind of the turning point.”
With five days between games last week, it can be easy to forget that Toronto hasn't lost a game since September 24th. The four wins to end the season were followed by a 10-1 rout of the Yankees in Game 1 and a 13-7 victory, punctuated by Guerrero's grand slam, in Game 2 in Toronto.
When the series moved to Yankee Stadium, the sold-out crowd in the baseball-mad city started talking from the start. “Oh Canada” was loudly booed before the game, and Guerrero's two-run homer in the first frame only further alarmed the 47,399 crowd.
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Guerrero scored again in Toronto's four-run third inning, racing around third base on Ernie Clement's single and taking a Superman-like slide to field the throw.
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Anthony Santander's two-run single made it 6-1, forced starter Carlos Rodon to retire and started chants of “Let's Go Blue Jays” from the Toronto faithful seated near the road dugout.
The Yankees, we must give them credit, managed to realize their opportunities.
Second baseman Isaiah Kiner-Falefa's loaded grounder led to an unearned run for New York in the first. Toronto starter Shane Bieber was ineffective at times and was eliminated in third place in New York with two rounds to go.
The game ended in the fourth inning shortly after Addison Barger misplayed Austin Wells on a two-base error.
“He just started moving a little bit closer to the stands, which is kind of weird for a lefty,” Barger said. “They usually came back to the line at the end.
“So I flew the other way and tried to get to him and hit him with the tip of my glove.”
Louis Varland walked with Trent Grisham to set the stage for Judge, who made sure to hit a powerful shot that hit high into the left field penalty post to tie the game at six.
“He made a really good pitch with a really bad pitch,” Warland said.
Yankee Stadium felt like it was shaking as the superstar slugger ran through the bases and the crowd chanted “MVP” along the way.
“I’m just trying to hit a good shot on a good pitch, and it looked good to me,” Judge said.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s single gave New York the lead for the first time in the series, and the Yankees never looked back.
“Just a great team win,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “So many guys playing important roles in one form or another, making it a lot of fun.”
It was the Yankees' largest win in a playoff game since they overcame a five-run deficit in Game 1 of the 2010 AL Championship Series against the Texas Rangers.
“It goes to show that if you take your foot off the gas for even a second, a good team will jump on you and be successful,” Clement said.
Coming back from a 6-1 deficit with eight unanswered runs changed the course of this meeting of East Division rivals.
To further complicate matters, the Blue Jays are expected to have a bullpen day in Game 4. The starter will likely be announced Wednesday morning.
“These guys will be ready to go,” Schneider said. “I'm excited to see them do it all year. I know they're going to do it again tomorrow.”
The Blue Jays are looking for their first series win since 2016, when they reached the AL Championship Series for the second year in a row.
The Yankees won the pennant last year and then lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
