In the third inning, when Venezuelan Anthony Santander hit a single that drove in two runs and decreed the explosion of starter Carlos Rodon, the Blue Jays had a 91.5% chance of winning the third game of the Division Series and sweeping the Yankees. That hit put the game 6-1 in favor of Toronto, who maintained the inspiration of the first two games at Rogers Centre. However, everything changed in the blink of an eye…
The Canadian franchise took Yankee Stadium by storm with a beastly start, which included six runs in the first three innings, following the same aggressive line as the two games in Toronto. Crucial was the ability of Davis Schneider to put the ball in play and the tremendous power of Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who sent a strong message with his two-run home run in the opening inning.
The first baseman silenced the Yankees’ feud and gave way to another offensive festival in which Ernie Clement and the aforementioned Santander played a decisive role with driving hits. But what seemed to be another open game for the Blue Jays turned into a thriller of great tension, in which the New Yorkers found extra life with a 9-6 victory.
The miracle of the bullpen
The Yankees’ relievers had allowed 14 earned runs and 17 hits in the first two games of the Division Series against Toronto. Their ERA after those two games was 12.19, a disaster of great magnitude. The team needed an urgent change and the bullpen responded with an epic resurrection.
Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Devin Williams and David Bednar combined to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, striking out nine and walking none against a daunting lineup. This containment kept hopes of a comeback alive, which was realized with the awakening of the bats.
Judge’s moment
While the pitchers did the dirty work, the offense had to shake off the lethargy and took a first step with a pair of consecutive doubles by Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge. Then Cody Bellinger scored another run on a sacrifice fly by Giancarlo Stanton to make it 6-3.
The momentum began to shift. Suddenly, Toronto’s win probability dropped to 80% and continued to fall as Austin Wells reached on an error by Addison Barger and Grisham worked a walk. That set the stage for Judge to step up to the plate.
“Judge” grabbed a close fastball from reliever Louis Varland and hit a 373-foot drive that went 103.1 mph over the left field wall. With much suspense, because the ball was close to the foul line, everyone waited until the last moment when it hit the rod and decreed the 6-6 tie.
According to Baseball Savant, there had been 527 pitches of 99+ mph, located outside the zone and in a two-strike, no-ball count. Of all of them, none had ended in a home run by the batter, until Judge appeared.
The home run tied the score and sparked optimism in the Bronx. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took care of the rest with another home run, while Wells and Ben Rice also drove in runs to seal the Yankees’ victory.
The shadow of elimination
After this spectacular victory, the Yankees now have a 39-32 record in elimination games in the postseason. At home, their record is 24-16. If we look only at the Division Series, their record is 16-9, with a 9-3 record at home.
The Blue Jays will test the Yankees’ positive record again, as they will once again play for their season in an elimination game on Wednesday. Will they get another extra life?
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