NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger stood in the on-deck circle during the fourth inning Tuesday night — the perfect vantage point to follow the 100 mph fastball that Aaron Judge somehow launched from more than a foot inside home plate and into the sky down the left-field line in what was perhaps the most important swing of the New York Yankees’ 2025 season.
Bellinger had only one wish: “I just said, ‘Hit the fucking foul pole.'”
When it happened, hitting the post three-quarters of the way to the top for a game-tying three-run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays opened a path to survival for the Yankees, who were in danger of being eliminated in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
Finally, after being dominated in the first two games and falling five points behind on Tuesday, there was life. Shortly after, for the first time in the series, the Yankees took the lead thanks to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s laser to right field in the fifth inning.
Ultimately, fueled by their first offensive explosion of the postseason and a crucial bullpen performance, the Yankees won 9-6 to force a Game 4 on Wednesday.
“You never know with the wind if it’s going to push the fault and continue to curve or not,” Judge said. “But I guess a few ghosts in Monument Park kind of helped maintain that fairness.”
The Blue Jays were 39-0 this season while leading by at least five points. The Yankees had not won a playoff game after trailing by at least five runs since the 2010 AL Championship Series, and they became the fifth team in history to overcome a five-run deficit facing elimination.
“It was just a matter of continuing to bring hitters together,” Bellinger said. “There’s a lot of trust in this room. We all believe in each other. It’s not an ideal start for us, obviously, but we had to pick ourselves up, and we did a good job today.”
The series moved to the Bronx after two games in Toronto, but the storyline appeared almost identical at first. Outscored 23-8 at Rogers Center, the Yankees fell behind 6-1 in 2½ innings Tuesday. Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his superstar role with his third homer of the series, a two-run blast in the first inning. All-Star Carlos Rodón lasted only 2⅓ innings, forcing New York’s bullpen to cover at least 20 outs.
The Yankees were still in shock.
But this time they bounced back, tallying two runs in the third inning, three in the fourth thanks to Judge’s power display, two more in the fifth and one more in the sixth with the help of two Toronto errors and Anthony Santander’s errant diving attempt on a Bellinger double.
Meanwhile, five Yankees relievers combined to pitch 6⅔ scoreless innings. Devin Williams recorded 1⅓ frames – the first time he has pitched more than one inning this season – to extend his scoreless streak to 12⅓ innings dating back to September 7. David Bednar followed to finish the job with a five-out save.
“They’ve been great,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the relievers. “Again, I don’t think any of them, hopefully, are too taxed, with tomorrow’s game.”
On the other side, the Blue Jays used six relievers to cover 5⅓ innings after Shane Bieber left with two outs in the third inning. Louis Varland, the second call-up, was inserted by manager John Schneider to face Judge in the fourth inning. The hard-throwing right-hander took an 0-2 lead when he threw a pitch that he nor anyone else in the stadium thought Judge could hit over the wall and stay fair.
“It just shows he’s amazing,” Chisholm said of Judge. “We all watched the video about 10 times in the dugout after he hit her. It was crazy.”
“You never know with the wind if it’s going to push the fault and keep bending or not. But I guess a few ghosts out there in Monument Park kind of helped keep it fair.”
Aaron judges
The explosion was the sixth of Judge’s career in potential elimination games, tying David Ortiz for the most in postseason history. The two-time AL MVP finished Tuesday’s game 3-for-4 with a double and an intentional walk, pushing his postseason batting average to .500 and his OPS to 1.304. Judge added two diving catches in right field and a head-to-head run that led to a run in the third inning.
Heavily scrutinized for his struggles in October in previous years, Judge carries the Yankees.
“It was a best-player-in-the-game type performance,” Boone said. “It was special when, obviously, needless to say, our backs are against the wall and then some in a Game 3 situation.”
The Yankees will be in this position again in Game 4, their fourth playoff game in less than a week. They will, on paper, have the pitching advantage with Cam Schlittler getting the start and the Blue Jays deploying a bullpen game with Varland as their opener.
The path to surviving another day and forcing a win-win Game 5 in Toronto on Friday is there.
“For us, it’s about living to fight another day, right?” » said Bellinger. “That’s all you can really do in this game.”
