Yankees avoid elimination with thrilling 9-6 comeback win over Blue Jays in Game 3 of ALDS

Aaron Judge hit a huge home run Tuesday night to help the Yankees rally from a big deficit and stave off elimination in Game 3 of their ALDS against the Blue Jays. 

Judge, often maligned for his October play, slammed a game-tying three-run homer in the fourth inning and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the subsequent frame to give the Yankees the lead for good in a 9-6 win in front of 47,399 at Yankee Stadium. It was the third time in these playoffs that the Yankees won a game in which a loss would’ve ended their season.

The Yankees had trailed by five runs after the top of the third inning. Toronto was 71-4 when they scored at least five runs in a game during the regular season and had won the first two games of this series while scoring five-plus, too.

The teams resume the series Wednesday night in the Bronx, and the Yankees will still be trying to avoid elimination — the Jays still lead the best-of-five affair, two games to one.

Here are the main takeaways…

— The Blue Jays got a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning after Carlos Rodón issued a one-out walk to Davis Schneider, bringing up Yankee-slayer Vlad Guerrero Jr. Guerrero smashed his third home run of the series, a 427-foot shot to left center that left his bat at 110.5 mph. Guerrero, who entered the game 10-for-17 with a homer and three doubles lifetime against Rodón, is the first Blue Jays player to homer in three consecutive playoff games. Not surprisingly, when Guerrero batted against Rodón in the third inning with first base open, Aaron Boone ordered an intentional walk. 

— After a terrific regular season, Rodón has been mostly a disappointment in the playoffs. He could not get out of the third inning against Toronto and wound up allowing six runs and six hits in 2.1 frames. He walked two, one intentionally, and fanned two. In two starts, he’s mustered a 9.72 ERA.

— Overall, Yankees starters have failed them badly in the series, allowing 15 earned runs and 18 hits in just eight total innings of work. Rodón’s start was the shortest of all, but the worst might have been ace Max Fried in Game 2, when he gave up seven runs in three innings. Overall, their starters have a 16.88 ERA in the series.

— Schneider started the third inning with a double and the Yankees put on Guerrero. One out later, Daulton Varsho blooped a ball to left field that Cody Bellinger dove for, but could not snare. Schneider had slowed at third, but when he saw that Trent Grisham, who backed up the play, threw the ball to second, he bolted for the plate and beat Chisholm’s throw easily to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Ernie Clement followed with a single to left and Guerrero whirled around second and sprinted for home, barely beating a strong throw by Bellinger. Varsho and Clement each moved up a base on the throw, which became key when the next batter, Anthony Santander, hit a two-run single to right for a 6-1 Toronto lead. Judge did not try to throw home on the play and the Jays seemed to be prepared to exploit that. Judge has been dealing with an elbow issue.

— The Yankees kept chipping away, though. They scored twice in the third inning, which started when they challenged a non-call with Grisham up, hoping it would result in catcher’s interference. It did not, but the result of Grisham’s at-bat was better, anyway — he doubled to right. Judge followed with an RBI double to left. After Bellinger singled to center, Ben Rice hit into a fielder’s choice, in which Judge was put out in a rundown between third and home. But the Yankees weren’t done scoring — Stanton brought the crowd to its feet with a deep drive to center, but Varsho ran it down and the Yankees had to settle for a sac fly to move to within 6-3. After Chisholm walked, Boone used Amed Rosario, who hits lefties well, to pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon against lefty reliever Mason Fluharty. Fluharty got Rosario to foul out.

— Judge’s big homer in the fourth inning was set up in part because the Blue Jays made another error. With one out, Austin Wells lofted a catchable fly ball beyond third base. Addison Barger went back for it, but the ball glanced off his glove for a two-base error. Fluharty walked Grisham, bringing up Judge. With the crowd chanting “M-V-P, M-V-P,” Judge fell behind hard-throwing reliever Louis Varland, 0-2. The second pitch was 100 mph heat that blew right by Judge. But he smashed a high parabola down the left-field line on Varland’s next offering, a 99.7 mph fastball off the plate, and it struck high up the foul pole, 373 feet away, for an enormous three-run homer. 

— The Yankees, seemingly dead an inning earlier, were dead even. It was the 17th career postseason homer for Judge, first this year. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it was Judge’s sixth home run in the postseason when facing elimination, matching David Ortiz for the most in MLB history.

— -Before Chisholm’s go-ahead homer in the fifth inning, which landed in the second deck in right field, he had been just 3-for-17 (.177) in the playoffs. His blast off Varland was the third postseason home run of his career. The Yankees pushed their lead to 8-6 in the same inning when Rosario doubled and scored on a single by Wells. In the sixth, Rice tacked on with a sac fly, scoring Judge after his intentional walk.

— The Yankees' bullpen, viewed as a potential trouble spot during these playoffs, was terrific after Rodón gave up six runs and couldn’t get out of the third inning. Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Devin Williams and David Bednar combined to allow no runs and three hits in 6.2 innings of work. Williams had not gotten more than three outs in any appearance all season, but provided four across the seventh and eighth innings and allowed only one hit. This would’ve sounded crazy at points during the season, but Williams got a standing ovation from fans. Bednar got the final five outs in a row.

— -With multiple miscues, including a pair of fielding errors, the Blue Jays looked more like the mistake-prone midsummer Yankees than their usually-efficient selves. Even plays in which they weren’t charged with an error — like Santander’s ill-advised dive on a Bellinger liner in the sixth — weren’t smooth. Santander missed and Bellinger reached second with a double. 

Game MVP: Aaron Judge

Judge singled and scored in the first, doubled in a run in the third, homered in the fourth and was intentionally walked and then scored in the sixth. He grounded out in the eighth to finish 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He even made a sweet catch in right field. Judge is 11-for-22 this postseason (.500) and has already set a career-best for hits in a single October.

Highlights

What's next

The Yankees will host Game 4 on Wednesday night, with first pitch in the Bronx scheduled for 7:08 p.m.

RHP Cam Schlittler is slated to take the mound, while the Blue Jays have yet to announce their starter.

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