One Good, One Bad: Game 2 ALDS

by Andrew Hefner

October 6, 2025

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I am at a loss for words. I had so many thoughts in my mind for what I would write about before the 6th inning… and then the Yankees went out and scored seven. The absolute ridiculousness of this season continues with each game, and I am yet to be able to accept a loss because of the insanity of every single one of them.

Let’s take a look at one good and one bad from game 2 of the 2025 ALDS.

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The Bad

I usually start with the good from every game first, but I felt like, for the result of yesterday's game, it was better to put the bad first.

The Blue Jays are just that good. I don't really have a better way to describe what went wrong for the Yankees. The ace is on the mound, the “A” lineup is fielded, and the bullpen is rested; the Blue Jays are pitching a rookie. And yet with all of that going the Yankees' way, they can still find themselves down 11 to what is rightfully the best team in the American League.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr is on par with some of the best sluggers and hitters of this generation, and with his contract extension, he will kill the Yankees for years to come. George Springer will never be at rest until every Yankees fan's opinion of him continues to go down the drain. Ernie Clement and Dalton Varsho are solidifying themselves as the anti-Yankees of the future. Toronto deserves what they have been able to accomplish, and I just do not see a great way out of this.

To wrap up the bad, I am just annoyed that Boone decides to throw away the game with Will Warren early on, and then the team, after all of that, goes out and decides they want to really play baseball. I know that the seven did not come against the best pitching in the world, but the game was given up on way too early. It just is not great that a rally like that was wasted, as they were still down six.

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The Good

Can the offense still make contact? I genuinely do not have a better highlight of last night other than the fact that they could still find a way to put up some garbage time runs. It saved fans a bit of embarrassment and maybe just showed some signs of life before they head home, before a home crowd that may be more hostile to their own team than the Toronto fans were to the Yankees.

Really just an overall bad day and one that can be erased from the Yankees' history books. I have not fully given up, and I think that a repeat of the 2017 ALDS could be in the works (especially with Rodon and Schlittler on the horizon), but there just still was not much I saw that made me feel great about one specific aspect of last night’s matchup.

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Game 3, once again win or go home, will be on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium with an 8:08 first pitch. Shane Bieber of Toronto will take on Carlos Rodon, with the game being on FS1.