Blue Jays defeat Yankees 3-1 in ALDS

October baseball will continue in Toronto, as Blue Jays have punched their ticket to the ALCS for the first time since 2016 after beating the New York Yankees 3-1 in the Division Series. The Jays’ offense led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was near unstoppable for the entire series, putting up 34 runs across the four games. Guerrero Jr. himself was responsible for driving in nine of those runs, hitting three homers, and finishing the series with a staggering OPS of 1.609. 

Toronto came flying out the traps in Game One on Saturday, with the offence scoring 10 runs behind a solid start from Kevin Gausman to draw first blood in the series. Catcher Alejandro Kirk continued his momentum from game 162 of the regular season, hitting two home runs on Saturday to make it four in his last nine at-bats. On Sunday, it was rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage who stole the headlines after he threw five and a third innings without allowing a single hit and striking out 11 Yankees batters in only his third career start in the major leagues. Yesavage exited the game to a standing ovation from the Toronto crow and with his team up 11-0, four of those runs coming from one swing of Guerrero Jr.’s bat, the first postseason grand slam in franchise history. Despite a late rally from New York, the deficit was too much for them to overcome, and the Jays won Game Two 13-7 and headed to the Bronx needing just one more win to advance. 

The only blemish on an otherwise excellent series for Toronto came on Tuesday night. The Blue Jays once again jumped out to an early lead, heading into the bottom of the sixth with a 6-1 lead after yet another home run from Guerrero Jr. However, the Toronto bullpen that has faced so much scrutiny this year could not contain the Yankees offence on this occasion. Starter Shane Bieber didn’t make it through three innings, giving up two runs early, so manager John Schneider turned to his bullpen. By the end of the fourth inning, the game was tied at 6-6, and just one inning later a solo shot from Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the Yankees their first lead of the series. The Jays gave up eight unanswered runs in total, dropping Game Three 9-6.

Game Four for the Blue Jays was always going to be a bullpen game if it was required, with only three starting pitchers on the roster. Following the implosion the night before, Jays fans would be forgiven for feeling nervous heading into this one, but the bullpen proved the doubters wrong. Toronto used eight different pitchers in total on Wednesday night and conceded only two runs. As they had in every game so far in the series, the Blue Jays were on the board first. A single from Guerrero Jr. drove in George Springer and put the Jays ahead in the top of the first inning. New York responded with a solo home run from Ryan McMahon in the third to tie the game, but once again they could not keep up with the scoring output from Toronto, with the Jays winning 5-2 and sending themselves through to the Championship Series. 

Guerrero Jr. was undoubtedly the star of the series, but plenty of Blue Jays bats put up remarkable numbers across the four games. Centrefielder Daulton Varsho posted an OPS of 1.471, tallying 12 total bases on Sunday alone. Ernie Clement was another standout performer, hitting .643 with an even better 1.554 OPS. 

Schneider will be hoping his team can carry this momentum into the ALCS, which begins on Sunday night. The Jays will face the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, who are coming off the back of a 15-inning Game Five battle with the Tigers in their Division Series.