About the Playoffs: Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1

By Mike Whiteman October 5, 2025 On this day in 1953, Billy Martin's walk-off single in the ninth inning gave the Yankees the win in World Series Game Six over the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Series title, their fifth in a row. The only teams since to come close to this standard are the 1972-1974 Oakland A's and 1998-2000 Yankees, each with three consecutive championships. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195310050.shtml

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-5-1953-billy-martins-walk-off-single-lifts-yankees-to-fifth-consecutive-world-series-title/ The 1953 Yankees aren't as highly regarded as other greats in franchise history, but perhaps they should be. Their 99-52 record would translate into 106 wins in a 162-game schedule. They led the American League in runs scored, and allowed the fewest. While taking home the AL flag by 8.5 games, they had five Hall of Famers on the roster, and led by fellow enshrinee Casey Stengel. They beat the 105-win Dodgers in the World Series.

Quick Stats: The Yankees are down one game to none in the best-of-five divisional series. Luis Gil took the loss. He has a 6.75 career postseason ERA in three starts. Giancarlo Stanton has one hit in sixteen 2025 postseason place appearances. Aaron Judge is batting .400 in the postseason, with five of his six hits being singles. Big Story: Things didn't start off great for the Yanks. Leadoff hitter Trent Grisham grounded out to first on a ball that looked to have nicked his foot off the bat - a foul ball. The umpires didn't see it, and it wasn't reviewable. Aaron Judge immediately singled to left, but was stranded. Luis Gil was on the mound for the Yanks, and fans had a right to be apprehensive as he's been shaky at times this season, and his underlying numbers don't seem to support his 3.32 ERA. I was hoping for five decent innings, but he didn't get there. He was pulled in the third, having allowed long home runs to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first and Alejandro Kirk in the second. Tim Hill came from the pen, stopped the bleeding, and then tossed a 1-2-3 fourth.

Meanwhile the Yankees couldn't solve Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who allowed only two hits through five innings. Toronto also flashed some great glovework, as Guerrero pulled an unassisted double play off a Ryan McMahon liner in the second and outfielders Nathan Lukes and Daulton Varsho both made sliding catches in the fifth.

In the sixth, Anthony Volpe led off with a double and Austin Wells followed with a line single. Grisham walked. The bases loaded for the heart of the Yankee lineup: Aaron Judge struck out. Cody Bellinger walked, forcing in a run. Ben Rice popped out to third. Giancarlo Stanton struck out. Disappointing, but the Yanks were on the scoreboard and just behind 2-1. Camilo Doval had relieved Hill and tossed scoreless fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, McMahon singled to right field. Volpe came up and midway through the at-bat Aaron Boone replaced McMahon with Jose Caballero. I liked the move, but would have liked it more had it been immediately after the single, so Caballero could swipe the bag early in the count and maybe even distract reliever Seranthony Dominguez. It didn't work out, as he didn't run when Volpe was hitting - he struck out - and when he did take off with Wells at the plate the Yankee catcher grounded out. Boone later stated "I just changed my mind first couple pitches into it" as his rationale not to immediately pinch run. Interesting. In the bottom of the frame Luke Weaver came on and his struggles seem to have carried over from his disastrous outing against Boston: three batters faced, a walk and two singles. Fernando Cruz relieved and after retiring the first batter he faced, walked the next batter to load the bases and allowed a two-run double to Lukes. Guerrero's sacrifice fly made the score 6-1, Toronto. The Yanks were scoreless in the eighth, and the Blue Jays added four more runs in the bottom half off reliever Paul Blackburn. Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless ninth and the game was mercifully over. Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1, Player of the Game: Vlad Guerrero set the tone with his first inning home run, and his double play stopped what could have been the start of a rally. A big time postseason performance. Notable Performances: Tim Hill and Camilo Doval combined for three and a third scoreless innings after Gil was pulled, keeping the Yankees close. Better to Forget: Weaver has pitched to six batters this postseason, and all have reached base. He's allowed five earned runs. They Said It: "I I don't really feel like myself . I don't feel like my mind is completely cleared to go out there and attack. I do feel physically strong. I do feel mentally strong." - Luke Weaver on his struggles. My Take: Not a great game for the Yanks, unlike the last two against Boston. This team played well with the backs against the wall in the Wild Card series, so I have confidence they will put this behind them and play well today. I keep waiting on Aaron Judge to have that postseason breakout game. I believe it's coming. Weaver's performance is particularly concerning. I mean, when/how do you use him next? It's hard to hide someone on the roster in the postseason. This isn't the regular season when you can find easy spots to help him get things right - the postseason is nothing but a high leverage situation! While I root for all Yankees I root a bit harder for Weaver, who I think is one of the good guys in the game, and hope he gets back to form quickly. I felt for Paul Blackburn too. His job is to eat up innings when the team is behind and he did it, but he had nothing yesterday and had to absorb being smacked around by the Jays. So, the task is to forget this game as soon as possible, win Game Two, and take the split back to the Bronx. Having Max Fried starting today goes a long way towards getting it done. I had penned the following thoughts before the game: While parity - by design - still rules in Major League Baseball, I'm pleased that there are a number of teams that have emerged as very good and interesting squads. That translates into some excellent matchups in this year's playoffs: The Phillies-Dodgers series features two heavyweights, and reminds me of their late 1970s encounters. Both teams have star power, and can hit and pitch. This back and forth contest could go all the way to the ninth inning of Game Five before being resolved. . Brewers-Cubs is a clash of two regional rivals, less than 100 miles apart. A couple of great and enthusiastic fanbases. The Brewers had the best regular-season record in the MLB. Can their success continue in the postseason? I think the Cubs are a dangerous team, and could definitely pull off an upset. The Yankees and Blue Jays series is another divisional clash. It looks like the Yanks shifted into another gear in the last two games against the Red Sox, and to many look to be the favorites. They looked confident, and they looked hungry. I do think they are the better of the two teams, but you don't win 94 games if you're not a good team. Toronto will come to play. While lacking some of the bells and whistles of the other matchups, the Tigers and Mariners feature two teams playing good baseball of late. Can an elite starting pitcher like Tarik Skubal put a team on his shoulders and carry them on a postseason run in today's game? We will see! In my opinion, it's as compelling a postseason as I've seen in years. What a great time to be a baseball fan. It has been great time to be a Yankee fan as well. After seeing Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt go down with injuries in the spring, I'll admit I was nervous about the Yankees' season, just hoping they could hang close until the team got healthy or brought in reinforcements later. They did this and more, and now we're looking at the best Yankee team heading into the postseason in years. Next Up: Game Two: Max Fried (19-5, 2.86; 0-0, 0.00 postseason) takes the mound for the Yankees against rookie Trey Yesavage (1-0, 3.21). Game time 4:08.