Game Recap: 2025 ALDS, Game 2 – L – NYY: 7, TOR: 13
It feels like the New York Yankees are incapable of matching the Toronto Blue Jays’ insatiable desire to win. Their offense is relentless. They don’t strike out, and they come up clutch in the biggest moments. Plus, their pitching is sensational. All they do is strike the Yankees out.
Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
With a 13-7 Game 2 loss in Toronto, the Yankees are facing elimination in a second straight series this postseason. And this time, it doesn’t feel like they have a chance to come back and win.
In just his fourth career Major League start, Blue Jays rookie starting pitcher Trey Yesavage dominated the Yankees lineup with all of Canada on his side, setting a Blue Jays franchise record with 11 strikeouts in a playoff game. The Yankees couldn’t handle his “funky release,” as Ben Rice put it, for Yesavage’s 63º arm angle is the highest among Major League starters. The Yankees swung and missed at 11 splitters that traveled several feet below the zone, and they swung at 31 of his 48 strikes.
“Just kind of playing [the splitter] off that fastball,” Ben Rice said. “It’s something I think we were a little unfamiliar with.”
Andy Martino pointed out on X that the Yankees usually use a Trajekt machine to prepare to face a pitcher for the first time, but this piece of artificial intelligence does not travel on the road. That helps explain why the Yankees couldn’t handle Yesavage yesterday, or why the Red Sox couldn’t handle Cam Schlittler on Thursday. It also helps explain how the Blue Jays have dominated every Yankees’ starter this series: They simply had more time to prepare. But that doesn’t excuse one of baseball’s best offenses from falling completely flat against a rookie starter.
Meanwhile, Yankees’ starter Max Fried generated just five swings and misses, and the Blue Jays made contact on each of their other 19 swings. They just don’t strike out. They have a relentless need to win.
“They obviously had a really good approach,” said Fried, who was limited to 51 pitches after allowing seven runs on eight hits over three innings. “They were on a lot of my pitches, and credit to them. I felt like I was mixing a lot of different fastballs, and when I threw the off-speed, they seemed to be on it, too. I pride myself in being able to change speeds and keep guys off balance, and they weren’t off balance.”
No, they were not, and it took almost no time at all for them to begin their masterclass at the plate. Daulton Varsho led off the second inning with a double to right field, which Aaron Judge misplayed, allowing Varsho to reach third base. On the very next pitch, Ernie Clement lifted a hanging curveball off the end of his bat and over the right-field fence for a two-run home run.
After Yesavage struck out the side in the top of the third inning, Toronto continued firing in the bottom half, as Davis Schneider walked, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled, and Alejandro Kirk grounded out to make it 3-0. Then, Varsho RBI doubled and Clement RBI singled to give the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead.
Right on cue, Yesavage struck out the side again in the top of the fourth, and Toronto did more damage in the bottom half. Andrés Giménez and Myles Straw walked, ending Fried’s outing. Will Warren came in to replace him, and after walking George Springer, Guerrero hit the first grand slam in Blue Jays postseason history. Typically, a starting pitcher like Warren would find it difficult to pitch out of the bullpen. “I think I worked my best to treat it like a start,” the rookie righty said.
“We’re going to take our shot there with [Warren],” said Aaron Boone. “It’s already five [runs] and runners out there. He’s on this team for that, behind especially one of our lefties, to go on a run. Obviously, it didn’t work initially.”
Throughout his entire at-bat, Guerrero looked like he was going to do damage. He had a look of fury in his eyes, mixed with unflappable confidence, especially when he stepped out of the box after taking a strike. He slammed the very next pitch – an inside fastball – to deep left field, and the Blue Jays were up 9-0.
When Aaron Judge entered Game 1 with the bases loaded and nobody out, he struck out swinging. And while the Yankees’ captain holds a .444 batting average and a 1.024 OPS in this series, it’s no match for Guerrero’s two home runs, his .667 batting average, his 1.933 OPS, and his thorough hatred of the Yankees. While Judge is making errors in right field, Guerrero is turning double plays at first base. And while Judge struck out with the bases loaded, Guerrero hit a grand slam.
Back in 2003, George Steinbrenner passed on an opportunity to sign Guerrero’s father, Vladimir Sr. That decision cost the Yankees, as Guerrero went on to win the 2004 American League MVP and enter the Hall of Fame. He also taught his son to hate the Yankees, and 22 years later, here he is beating up on them in the playoffs.
After Guerrero Jr.’s grand slam, Alejandro Kirk singled, and Daulton Varsho two-run homered to give the Blue Jays an 11-0 lead. In the fifth inning, George Springer homered to make it 12-0, and Varsho went yard again in the sixth for Toronto’s 13th run. Now, the Yankees have been out-homered in this ALDS 8-1 in two games. That’s not a recipe for success, and their 23 runs allowed in this series are the most they’ve allowed in a two-game span in their storied postseason history.
It made things even worse when the Yankees rallied for seven runs against Toronto’s bullpen. Blue Jays manager John Schneider removed Trey Yesavage in the sixth inning because he was on a pitch count, but Toronto’s manager was forced to use seven relievers. Cody Bellinger two-run homered off Justin Bruihl in the sixth inning, and the Yankees scored five runs off Eric Lauer and Tommy Nance in the seventh. And while it wasn’t enough to come all the way back, it might have been if someone other than Warren had relieved Fried in the fourth inning.
The Yankees cannot blame the Blue Jays for their performance. The chip on their shoulder, stemming from failing to win a playoff game despite making the postseason in three of six years, should loom large. The Yankees can only blame themselves for being unable to match Toronto’s energy and desire to win, especially after how badly they lost the World Series last year.
In 2016, the last time the Blue Jays were in an ALDS, they swept their opponent. Meanwhile, the Yankees haven’t overcome a 0-2 series deficit since 2017, and that was just their sixth time ever to do so. Yet, here’s Aaron Boone after yesterday’s loss: “Baseball’s a funny game. I know we’ll show up and [be] ready to go, expecting to win Tuesday night.”
Expectations don’t yield results. Only results yield results. And for the Yankees to win this series, they’re going to have to take it one game at a time. But the Yankees have too many issues, from pitching to hitting, to overcome, and the Blue Jays are doing everything better than them. The hill appears too enormous to climb.
“If they’re hitting [us] and we’re not, more often than not, we’re not gonna [win],” Giancarlo Stanton accurately remarked.
How badly do the Yankees want to win this series? Not as badly as the Blue Jays.
Game 3 is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:08 PM (7:08 PM CDT) (FS1). LHP Carlos Rodón (18-9, 3.09 ERA, 203 K) will try to help the Yankees fend off elimination as they face the righty Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.57 ERA, 37 K).
