NEW YORK – Aaron Judge and the Yankees were here last week, faced with two elimination games, and advanced past the Red Sox.
It’s a tougher spot against the Blue Jays, but the sound and feel of Yankee Stadium should be energizing after a lost weekend at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, a nightmarish place to the Yanks.
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“Just being at home gives us a little bit of confidence,’’ said Cody Bellinger, heading into Tuesday night’s Division Series Game 3, with the Yanks trailing 0-2 in a best-of-five.
“To be back at Yankee Stadium in front of the home crowd, it’s definitely exciting.’’
It’ll be a thrill, too, for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to silence that crowd with another devastating home run.
In 47 career starts in the Bronx, Vlad Jr. is a .308 hitter with 16 home runs and a 1.002 OPS, and you might have heard he’s got two more homers in this series than Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton.
Over the weekend, the Jays out-homered the Yanks – who led MLB with 274 home runs this year – 8-1, none more devastating than Guerrero’s fourth-inning grand slam Sunday.
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That, and rookie Trey Yesavage’s 11-strikeout, 5.1 shutout innings performance from Game 2, stand out as Toronto highlights, just as the memory of Saturday’s sixth inning still pains Yankees Universe.
And this is where Judge’s storyline of sensational regular seasons and subpar Octobers re-enters.
Oct 5, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) singles in the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game two of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Judge is 8-for-18 in the Yankees’ five postseason games in 2025, but with one extra-base hit – an eighth inning double in Toronto’s 13-7 win on Sunday.
Game-changing power is the Yankees’ signature trait, and they’ve got to find that threatening element right away – preferably righty away Tuesday (they set an MLB record with 50 first-inning homers in 2025).
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Because if the Yanks can’t recover in this ALDS, they’ll be haunted by the sixth inning of Game 1 all winter, just like the fifth inning of World Series Game 5 last winter.
There’s Judge, flailing at a 3-and-2 splitter, with the bases loaded against suddenly on-the-ropes starter Kevin Gausman.
After a four-pitch walk by Bellinger cuts Toronto’s lead to 2-1, there’s Ben Rice popping up to the infield, and there’s Stanton whiffing on reliever Louie Varland’s 101-mph heater.
Over the next seven innings, through the fifth inning of Game 2, Toronto outscored the Yankees 20-0.
“They’re tough to strike out,’’ lefty Carlos Rodon said of Toronto’s lineup. “They force action, they put the ball in play. They make teams play defense (and) there’s also slug.
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“They have a good idea of what they want to do at the plate,’’ and it’s Rodon’s assignment to halt that progress as the Yankees’ Game 3 starter, opposing Shane Bieber.
And it is Judge’s burden to start building an October portfolio that is closer to his regular season greatness.
Yes, Stanton – 1-for-17 until getting two this Sunday, after Toronto took a 12-1 lead – has to make that timing correction that can put him back on his accustomed October power course.
The lefty-hitting foursome of Rice, Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham need to be heard from, too, but the focus is always on Judge and a postseason performance that hasn’t met his lofty standards.
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“I’m just trying to do my job, get on base, drive in guys when they’re out there, not trying to do too much,’’ Judge said late Sunday afternoon at Toronto.
Judge talked about “passing the baton’’ and “putting pressure on the pitcher’’ with solid at-bats up and down the lineup.
They need that, and a little more, to get this ALDS back to Toronto with a puncher’s chance – starting with the Yankees’ captain swinging for the fences, swinging the momentum in the Bronx.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: As the Yankees’ battle to save their season, Aaron Judge takes center stage