About Last Night: The Yankees Climbed Off the Deck Against the Blue Jays 9-6.

About Last Night: The Yankees Climbed Off the Deck Against the Blue Jays 9-6.

By Tim Kabel

October 8, 2025

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Last night, the Yankees were on the brink of elimination. They were trailing the Blue Jays 6-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning. Carlos Rodon only lasted 2.1 innings. He gave up six runs. It was about as bleak as it could be. Yet, the Yankees, to their immense credit, did not roll over. Led by Aaron Judge, who drove in four runs with three hits, including a three-run home run, the Yankees came storming back to win the game 9-6 and stave off elimination.

Quick Stats – 

· In this series, Aaron Judge is 7-11 (.636) with 5 RBI and 3 walks.

· The Yankees’ bullpen pitched 6.2 innings of scoreless relief.

· The Yankees are 3-0 in elimination games this postseason. Three down, two to go.

· Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has hit a home run in all three games of this series.

· This was the Yankees’ largest comeback ever in an elimination game and tied for their second biggest comeback in any postseason game.

· On October 7th, 1978, the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 to clinch the American League Pennant behind home runs from Roy White and Graig Nettles.

Big Story – 

You have to give the Yankees a ton of credit. Once Carlos Rodon was knocked out of the game, they could have just given up. It looked as if they were going to be steamrolled again by the Blue Jays. However, they fought back. Aaron Judge hit a huge three-run home run to tie the game. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. put them ahead with a home run of his own and they didn't look back. This game will undoubtedly be on Yankees’ Classics on the YES Network. It's probably on there now. It was tremendous. I was preparing to write a season-ending wrap up column. However, I was completely surprised and overjoyed to see what the Yankees did.

However, they cannot rest on their laurels. Because they fell into a two-game hole against the Blue Jays, last night's game won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things if they don't win tonight and then again on Friday. It will be a tremendous game, but that's it. It won't have any significance in the postseason fortunes of the Yankees this season.

Last night's game needs to be the first step of three against the Blue Jays. It was the acknowledged by everyone after Sunday's game that it would be a daunting task for the Yankees to win a total of five elimination games to make it to the ALCS. They have won three. Unless they finish the deal, their season will be over. Let's hope they didn't use up all their magic last night and they can win the next two games.

Player of the Game – 

Aaron Judge showed why he is the likely MVP yet again this season by going 3-4 with a three-run home run and four RBI.

Notable Performances– 

Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Devin Williams, and David Bednar combined for 6 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Better To Forget-

Carlos Rodon’s dismal performance. At least he would probably be able to pitch in relief on Friday, if there is a game.

My Take – 

The Yankees were sinking fast last night. They were destroyed by the Blue Jays in the first two games and in the third game of the best of five series, Carlos Rodon was knocked out in the third inning. However, although the Yankees were down, they were not out. They rallied, getting big performances from Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm, Jr. and the bullpen. They took advantage of sloppy play by the Blue Jays and the bullpen was phenomenal.

This was an amazing win for the Yankees. However, was it a turning point or just one day of avoiding the inevitable? Many people are pinning their hopes on the fact that Cam Schlittler will be pitching tonight. He was dominant against the Red Sox but let's not put all of our hopes and dreams on the shoulders of a 24-year-old rookie making his 16th Major League start. I'm sure he will do his very best. He may dominate the Blue Jays but then again, look what the Blue Jays did to the other four members of the Yankees’ starting rotation in this series, Luis Gil, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Will Warren, who was pitching in relief.

As a standalone game, this was tremendous for the Yankees. Aaron Judge had his signature postseason game. He has played extremely well in this series. Hopefully, this game will be the catalyst to the Yankees winning the series and advancing further into the playoffs. If it isn't, nothing can diminish how well they played last night. 

The Yankees played a crisp, clean game last night. They did not make any errors while the Blue Jays made two and misplayed some other balls. That wasn't the whole difference, but it was part of it. One thing though, although it did not come back to hurt the Yankees, Austin Wells appeared to be safe at second base when he was called out in the fifth inning. However, the Yankees could not appeal the play because they used their appeal on a possible catcher’s interference call when Trent Grisham was up in the third inning. Aaron Boone needs to be very careful with that sort of thing moving forward. If the Blue Jays had rallied, believe me that is something that would have been looked at.

The Yankees cannot revel in the fact that they played such a tremendous game and avoided elimination. They must do the same thing again tonight and then again on Friday if they want to continue further into the postseason. Let's see what they can do tonight.

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the fourth game of the Division Series against the Blue Jays tonight at 7:08 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Blue Jays will have a bullpen game and have not identified an opener yet, while the Yankees will send Cam Schlittler to the mound. For the Yankees, it is win or go home.