Yankees storm back from five-run deficit to stun Blue Jays, to stay alive, fueled by a signature Judge home run

New York—The Yankees mounted a comeback after being down big early on to take down the Blue Jays 9-6 in Game 3 of the ALDS to keep their season alive and send this series to a Game 4. Carlos Rodon got the start for the Yankees and faced off against former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. 

With one out in the top of the first inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched a two-run bomb to quickly give the Jays a 2-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the first inning, with one out, Aaron Judge lined a single to left-center field. A couple of batters later, Cody Bellinger reached base thanks to an E4 from former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The next batter, Giancarlo Stanton, laced an RBI single to left field to cut the Jays' lead in half at 2-1. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then flew out to left field to strand Stanton and Belli on base. 

Rodon gave up a leadoff single in the top of the second inning, then hit a batter with two outs, but three pop outs helped Rodon work into and out of trouble. 

Belli could not make a sliding catch, and Jazz took his time throwing home, allowing Daulton Varsho to pick up an RBI single, making it a 3-1 ballgame. The next batter, Ernie Clement, drove in another run via an RBI single to make it a 4-1 game. Anthony Snatander followed that up with a two-run single to make it a 6-1 game and knock Rodon out of the game. Fernando Cruz replaced Rodon on the mound and picked up the final two outs of the top of the third inning. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: 2.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed, six earned runs, two walks, seven swings and misses, and two strikeouts on 67 pitches. Rodon threw his fastball over half the time at 61%, the slider 24%, the changeup 9%, the sinker 4%, and the curveball 1% of the time. Rodon was not good at all; his average fastball velocity was down 1 mph from his yearly average for the majority of the night, just an unfortunate series all around from the Yankees starters. 

Trent Grisham led off the bottom of the third inning with a double into the right field corner. Grisham then moved up to third base thanks to a WIld Pitch. Jude picked up an RBI double to make it a 6-2 game. Belli then lined a single to center field to put runners at the corners. Judge then ran home on contact, but Vladdy gunned him out at home for the first out. Stanton then drove a run home via a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-3 ballgame. Amed Rosario then pinch hit for Ryan McMahon and popped out to strand two runners on base. 

Cruz remained in the game for the top of the fourth inning, and he struck out two batters, then surrendered a two-out single. Camilio Doval took over for Cruz and picked up the final out of the frame. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, Austin Wells made it to second base on an E5 from Addison Barger. Grisham then reached thanks to a walk, Judge followed that up with a signature game-tying three-run bomb off the top of the foul pole in left field, his first of October, to make it a 6-6 ballgame. 

"I felt like I made good contact, and you know, I thought we had a chance, you just never know with the wind if it's gonna push a foul," Judge said. "Is it going to keep curving or not? But I guess a couple of ghosts out there in Monument Park kind of keep that fair." 

Doval remained in the game for the top of the fifth inning and served up a one-out double, then Judge made a diving catch to save a run and was rained down with MVP chants. Tim Hill replaced Doval on the bump and recorded a strikeout to keep the game evened up at six apiece. 

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Jazz launched a go-ahead solo home run to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead, their first lead of the series. 

"I mean, it felt great, you know, helping my team take the lead right there, crucial game," Jazz said. "Honestly, all I was thinking is that we got to win this game. That's all really going through my head the whole game. So that's all I had thoughts on." 

Rosario then lined a double to left field. Wells then came through with an RBI single to tack on a huge insurance run, making it an 8-6 game. 

Hill remained in the game for the top of the sixth inning and worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 inning. 

Judge was intentionally walked with no one on base and one out. Belli followed that up with a double that Santander just missed on a diving attempt to put two runners in scoring position. Ben Rice then delivered a sacrifice fly to make it a 9-6 game. 

Devin Williams replaced Hill in the top of the seventh inning and retired the Jays in order with a punch out. 

Jazz, José Caballero, and Anthony Volpe went down in order for the Yankees. 

Williams remained in the ballgame for the top of the eighth inning and gave up a leadoff single and picked up out number one via a strikeout. Williams has had his struggles for the Yankees, but he's been great as of late, and the fans in the Bronx let him hear it with a standing ovation coming off the mound. The Yankees' closer, David Bednar, was called upon to try and pick up a five-out save and picked up the final two outs. 

“It was awesome. It's nice to feel appreciated sometimes,” Williams said. “That was definitely a lot better than what I've heard for much of the year.”

Wells led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a line drive single to right-center field. Belli was then intentionally walked, and Caballero singled to right field, but Stanton popped out to strand the bases loaded. 

Bednar remained in the game for the top of the ninth inning and retired the Jays in order with a pair of strikeouts to send this series to a Game 4. 

The Yankees will try to keep their season alive tomorrow with the rookie Cam Schlittler on the mound, facing a bullpen game for the Jays. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. ET on FS1. 

My thoughts on the game: Judge had a signature Postseason moment with his game-tying home run in the fourth inning. Judge has been on fire in October, hitting .500 with a 1.304 OPS. Joining an elite group of Yankees with at least .500 BA, .575 OBP, .725 SLG in any 6-Game Span within a Postseason (min. 25 PA): Aaron Judge (2025), Paul O'Neill (2000), Bernie Williams (1996). Stanton had a hit tonight and a couple of RBI; it seems like he is due for a big home run tomorrow. Belli and Welss each had two big hits. And Jazz with the swing of his life with a go-ahead home run. The offense was awesome all around with 12 hits and nine runs. Rodon was not good at all, but the offense and the bullpen picked him up in a huge way, combining for 7.2 innings and nine strikeouts. On to tomorrow as Schlittler will try to follow up his legendary performance last time out and keep the Yankees' season alive. 

"Yeah, I mean, I think it was an incredible effort by everyone," Williams said about the bullpen. "Everyone stepped up and kind of got as many outs as they could tonight. And it was a great performance by everybody. And I got to do it again tomorrow."

"Tonight was special, but there's still more work to be done," Judge said. "Hopefully, we have some more cool moments like this the rest of the postseason. We got another big game tomorrow night. Maybe we can do something special tomorrow night, and we can talk to all of y'all one more time before we head back up north."