About Last Night: The Day After

by Paul Semendinger

September 25, 2025

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Created by Copilot

On Tuesday night the Yankees clinched a spot in the playoffs. Last night they continued their quest to grab first place in the American League East as they won while the Blue Jays lost. Both teams now have identical records and are tied at the top of the A.L. East. (The Blue Jays actually have a one game advantage because they won the season series. (Oh, that swoon still comes back to hurt.)

Quick Stats:

• Max Fried: 7 ip, 107 pitches, 4 hits, 1 run, 7 strikeouts

• Aaron Judge - 2 homers

• Trent Grisham - 1 homer

Thoughts On The Game:

I wasn't able to watch the game's first inning last night. I had to "watch" the play-by-play on espn.com. It's not really fun that way.

Max Fried retired the White Sox in order in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the first, Fraser Ellard walked the first three Yankees. At one point, he threw 10 balls in a row. 10 in a row. I was happy to "see," on a 3-0 count, with the bases loaded, Giancarlo Stanton take a strike. That's smart baseball. The guy couldn't throw strikes, do not do him any favors. Smart baseball is how games are won in the postseason.

Stanton eventually flew out, I assume not deep enough to get a sacrifice fly. Ben Rice then struck out. And that was all for Fraser Ellard, the Sox' starting pitcher. In came Jonathan Cannon to face Paul Goldschmidt who he struck out.

Failing to score in an inning when you have the bases loaded on walks, no batters out, and a 3-0 count on your clean-up hitter is inexcusable. That's how to lose in the playoffs.

Judging by the little strike zone on the play-by-play page on ESPN, it seems like a lot of the balls called for the Yankees' hitters were actually in the strike zone. When that happens against the Yankees, fans are outraged. When It happens for the Yankees, it often goes unnoticed or unmentioned.

Also, after the game Tuesday night, there were many discussions that the White Sox centerfielder didn't try hard enough to catch the flyball that became the game winning hit. "Why don't they just give the pennant to the Yankees," some said. It's always a matter of perspective. Fans always think everyone else is against their team.

After the Yankees failed to score, the White Sox didn't. In the top of the second inning, the White Sox put together a little rally and scored the game's first run. White Sox 1 -0. (By this time, I was able to watch the game.)

Then in the bottom of the second inning, with two runners on, and two out, Aaron Judge hit his 50th homer of the season - a long blast to centerfield. The guy is the MVP. He just is. (More on that below.) Yankees 3-1.

In the bottom of the third inning, Ben Rice tripled, Paul Goldschmidt singled him home, and Jazz Chisholm doubled home Goldschmidt. Yankees 5-1.

Max Fried, all the while just kept getting outs. He went seven strong innings. It is possible that he won't pitch again until the week of October 5.

Devin Williams came out to pitch the eighth inning. He retired the side in order.

In the bottom of the 8th, Trent Grisham homered and then Aaron Judge followed with his 51st homer of the season. MVP, for sure. Yankees 8-1.

The Yanks called on Paul Blackburn to close the game out. And he did.

Other Thoughts:

I'll bet you didn't know all this... Aaron Judge leads Cal Raleigh in virtually every offensive category except homers and RBIs. Aaron Judge leads the league in intentional walks. He's been walked intentionally 33 times. No team has that many intentional walks. Aaron Judge leads in WAR. Intentional walks aren't counted as part of WAR. Yup, that's right, Judge's WAR lead would increase if they counted the times he was intentionally walked. In Judge's case, they put him on base willingly with the IBB because they feel that's the better alternative than him mashing. Judge has been intentionally walked 33 times. If he swung a bat, he would have had 10-11 more hits in those at bats (based on his batting average). Hummm... Judge is even better than his stats show. He's the MVP.

And then there is this:

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Four players have four 50+ homer seasons in all of baseball history: Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Aaron Judge. Wow.

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I have an article coming that I just can't fit in this week that shows a collection of stats that demonstrates why Aaron Judge should be the A.L. MVP. It seems that article will have to wait until Monday.

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What a year Max Fried had. 19 wins. Amazing. I'm old school and I know all about how wins aren't a great stat. I still like them. 19 wins is a great year.

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Anthony Volpe has looked great the last week or so. All it took was a cortisone shot? If that's the case, what took the Yankees so long to figure that out?

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We have to give the Yankees credit. They have somehow gotten back to first place. They did it. I have said for a few weeks now that somehow Aaron Boone kept this team together. He gets credit for that. He's the manager. It can be credibly argued that under a different manager all the losing could have destroyed the team. The argument that the manager doesn't matter is always a silly one.

Brian Cashman, too, deserves a lot of credit for building this team. And this team is rolling now. It finally came together.

(Imagine, though, as the Yankees still have a game they have to gain on the Blue Jays, if the Yankees had addressed third base in the off-season, or if they sat Anthony Volpe a week earlier, or, any number of the things so many wrote about and questioned. They would have that one win already.)

They made it work. Somehow. It wasn't always pretty, it should have been smoother, they should have more wins than they do, there are still some crazy decisions that are made, but, with three games to play, the Yankees are tied for first place. Whatever they did, it seems to have worked.

Finally, if Aaron Boone gets out-managed in the playoffs, if the Yankees get out-played, and such, the same criticisms will come out again. It's not just finishing at the top, it's finishing the entire job. Now, to be clear, good teams lose. Great teams lose. If the Yankees play good baseball and lose, that happens. I'll be disappointed, but I'll acknowledge the success they had. If they play poor baseball and lose, as they did in last year's World Series, it still might be time for a change. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Go out Yankees and win the World Series. Do it! It's time. We've waited far too long!

Next Up:

Carlos Rodon pitches tonight in the finale of the season series with the White Sox. Game time is 7:05 p.m.