In 2017, the Yankees were the closest they could ever come to a bunch of plucky young upstarts. With Aaron Judge putting together one of the best rookie seasons baseball had ever seen and a cavalcade of homegrown talent behind him—coupled with a few castoffs who had put together their game in the Bronx—they exceeded expectations for a club that sold at the previous year’s Trade Deadline and had spent much of the mid-2010s at home for October. Then they won a Wild Card spot, dispatched the Twins,
and entered their ALDS matchup in Cleveland very much the underdogs against the 102-win defending AL champions.
It looked like their story would end early when Cleveland took each of the first two games at Progressive Field, especially after the second game, in which the Yankees blew a five-run lead and eventually lost in 13 innings. But they rallied from off the mat, rattled off three consecutive wins against a colossus of a baseball team, and punched their ticket to the ALCS. They nearly pulled off the same feat twice when they took a 3-2 ALCS lead over the Astros, but Houston shut the party down by taking two straight games at Minute Maid Park, ending an unforgettable season.
After getting clobbered by the Blue Jays twice in Toronto, the Yankees stared down the exact same dire situation as Judge’s first playoff team. They then got off to another terrible start. The Jays kept clicking on offense from the jump as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s third homer in as many nights set a grim tone. Carlos Rodón was chased out of the game after allowing six runs in 2.1 innings. The offense looked flimsy early. It felt like a rerun of Game 2. All was lost.
But the 2025 Yankees offense is the best in Major League Baseball — even if it took the Yankees themselves a while to remember that.
It started with a few runs in the bottom of the third, immediately after Toronto had opened up their five-run lead on Rodón. That response felt small at the time, particularly with Game 2 fresh in everyone’s minds. But it was a substantial retort which put the Yankees within range if they could only grab one more big hit.
And everybody knew who needed to provide it.
The Blue Jays were making uncharacteristic mistakes on defense, affording the Yankees extra opportunities. Infielder Addison Barger lost an popup in the shallow outfield in the fourth, setting up Judge as the tying run. A postseason underperformance narrative has long since formed around Judge, threatening to mar his legacy in New York. But at long last, as Louis Varland fired a fastball in on him, he pulled his hands in, connected on the barrel, and shot one to the pole in left. Just like that, the Yankees had a new lease on life with the score tied 6-6.
What is this feeling? Hope? A dormant fire rekindled when Judge hit that moonshot, and the flames grew from there. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s go-ahead home run the following inning gave the Yankees their very first lead of the ALDS. The Jays kept making mistakes in the field and the lead grew. The bullpen continued to put up zeroes. Finally, with the clock reading a half hour to midnight, it was the ninth inning, and David Bednar was on the hill with a 9-6 lead to protect.
Bednar continued his flawless postseason by retiring the side in order for the five out save. José Caballero’s beautiful diving play provided one last exhilarating highlight as they completed the reversal.
In addition to reinvigorating the team and its fans with hope, the win put some real pressure on John Schneider and the Blue Jays. Shane Bieber only collected one more out than Rodón did, and the Blue Jays had to use six relievers as a result. They have a bullpen game to throw tonight behind Varland, though “everyone” is on the table. The Yankees used five of their own to carry them to the finish line, but they all looked fresh coming off two or more full days rest. And of course, they’ll now get to send Cam Schlittler to the bump for Game 4. If he looks anything like he did on Boston, the Yankees should be in great position to send this series back to Canada.
It’s impossible not to think of that 2017 club from Judge’s breakout. Not just because of the 2-0 ALDS deficit that squad overcame, but because of the fact that between then and now, the Yankees have not won a single playoff series that they started on the road. The Bombers have been wholly dependent on home-field advantage in the ensuing years—actually, they even leaned on it during that 2017 run. The victory in Game 5 of that ALDS was Cleveland was the exception to the rule; the ALCS battle with Houston featured no wins for the road team.
But more to the point, it feels like the Yankees have not beaten a team truly on or above their own level since that comeback. The Astros were their three-time conquerors, always starting those series with the home crowd on their back, and always getting out to quick 2-0 series leads. The Dodgers did the same thing in last year’s Fall Classic, putting the Yankees in a giant hole before they had time to climb out. In order to get to that World Series, the Yankees defeated two AL Central teams who were operating with sizeable talent deficits compared to New York. The Dodgers were obviously a much more formidable foe than the Guardians or the Royals, and they sent the Bombers packing.
This Blue Jays team is not obviously superior to the Yankees, despite how the first two games and three innings of this ALDS made it look. But they are certainly at least equals. Last night’s win was a miniature version of what they hope to accomplish in the macro with a come-from-behind series victory against a team facing them at eye level.
Ultimately, the Yankees may not escape this 2-0 crater. They may promptly drop Game 4 and fade into grayscale. This trend may persist. Maybe this is another case of too-little-too-late. But on a night where Death came riding into the Stadium on his pale horse, the Bombers found the strength to say “not today, Reaper.” They put together an effort of which they could be proud. And they declared to all that their season isn’t dead yet.
