The Yankees kept their season alive with a thrilling Game 3 victory over Toronto with the series back in New York, though it looked rocky for a while. Carlos Rodón continued the line of Yankees starters
getting lit up, giving up six runs and failing to make it out of the third inning, but the offense finally came to life against the Blue Jays’ starters. Shane Bieber was chased during the third as well after Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run double to cut the lead to 6-3, and in the fourth inning Aaron Judge had his signature moment of these playoffs so far, crushing a 100-mph fastball way inside and doinking it off of the left field foul pole. Tied at six, Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave them a lead they wouldn’t surrender with a solo home run in the fifth, and the Bombers tacked on a few more runs for insurance.
Now, they have to reset and play another game like their lives depend on it. Cam Schlittler will take the mound for them following a dominant Game 3 performance in the Wild Card Series where he shut down the Red Sox for eight innings, striking out 12, and they’ll need him to give them something similar to that to relieve the bullpen after all hands were on deck on Tuesday. Just as important, they’ll need the offense to keep the fire lit and attack a Blue Jays staff that is running out a bullpen game the night after having used six relievers. Since there’s no one name to look out for as the bulk innings eater, Aaron Boone has to stay flexible with his lineup, and he chose to deploy one of his weapons off the bench right out of the gate.
The one change in the lineup starter-wise from the previous three games is inserting Paul Goldschmidt at first base, but placing him in the six-hole while keeping Trent Grisham at leadoff, sliding Giancarlo Stanton and Chisholm up a slot. Additionally, Ryan McMahon slides down to the nine-hole while Austin Wells moves up to be the seven hitter and Volpe stays put in the eighth spot, giving the Yankees a lefty/righty rhythm all the way down the lineup, giving Blue Jays manager John Schneider no easy avenue to call in a matchup reliver from his bullpen.
Goldschmidt has seen action in all but one of the Yankees’ postseason games this year, but he hasn’t made a start since Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. He went 2-for-4 in that game, and has maintained a steady bat going 2-for-4 across the four other games where he was called in as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement late in the action. Ben Rice took over the starting gig after he led the charge in Game 2 against Boston with a two-run home run, but hasn’t had much success since and looked completely overmatched in the first two games of the ALDS, leading Boone to try his veteran platoon bat here to see if he can provide some more juice to the lineup.
All eyes, of course, will remain on Judge and how he will follow up his monster Game 3 where he collected three hits including the game-changing three-run blast alongside an RBI double in the third inning and a single his first time up. Judge was much maligned for coming up empty with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning of Game 1, striking out before the team could only muster a walked-in run during the frame, but outside of that one moment there isn’t much to critique about his postseason performance this year. He owns a .500/.577/.727 triple-slash and is on the board in the long ball department now, giving the Yankees hope that if they can force a Game 5 on Friday it’ll be on the back of his red-hot bat breaking out in October.
The Blue Jays will start Louis Varland, the reliever that gave up that bomb to Judge yesterday, as their opener tonight. Their lineup shifts again for Game 4, with Nathan Lukes back in left field and batting second while Addison Barger mans third base and will bat fourth. Ernie Clement moves over to second base to accompany him while Anthony Santander remains in right field. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remains the most dangerous bat to watch, as he’s simply crushed New York’s pitching in this series with homers in all three games.
Will we see a full five games in this series, or does the Yankees’ season end tonight? They’re now 3-0 when facing elimination this postseason, and they have plenty going in their favor to force the Blue Jays to fly back to Toronto with the Bombers in pursuit. They’ve yet to get a clean start or strike first in this series, and getting at least one of those to happen would make the odds of going 4-0 in these do-or-die games a lot easier.
