"It was pretty electric... finishing that first inning, it was so loud in here. It was crazy." - Kevin Gausman on the atmosphere in Toronto today
Gausman’s elite performance gives Blue Jays early lead in the ALDS
Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
By Nick Prasad
Oct 5, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 5, 2025, 12:24 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays made a statement with a huge win at the Rogers Centre to take an early lead in the ALDS. The win was led by Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, who looked elite against a tough Yankees lineup.
There were some concerns about Gausman getting the ball in game one, mainly due to his last outing of the regular season. His early exit after 3 and 2/3 innings back on September 28th was fresh on people’s minds as this series approached, even though he had handled the Yankees through his last three previous outings this season.
Gausman, who went 10-11 in the regular season, proved why he was the right arm to set the tone against the Bronx Bombers at the start of the Blue Jays’ postseason.
Gausman painted a brilliant outing on the bump against the Yankees
The Toronto right-hander was a magician on the mound Saturday afternoon, looking calculated against Yankees hitters, and working quick innings. Gausman cruised through the first five innings of his outing with ease, working his off-speed and breaking pitches effectively, and filling up the strike zone. Through his first five innings, he averaged about 10 pitches per inning; he was getting quick outs from a Yankees lineup that was looking to work quickly in the count.
When he got to the top of the sixth, things started to get rocky. Anthony Volpe doubled, followed by an Austin Wells single, and a Trent Grisham walk. This loaded the bases for Aaron Judge, who was looking to open the score and give the Yankees the lead. Gausman worked Judge top shelf, bottom shelf, and off the zone. He used three fastballs and five splitters; the last was one low and inside at 86 mph for a swinging strikeout, one that had the Yankees fanbase reeling.
His next matchup resulted in a bases-loaded walk to score one, followed by a Ben Rice pop-out. This marked the end of the Gausman show, paving the way for Louis Varland to strike out Stanton, ending the threat.
The Blue Jays ace finished after 5 and 2/3, allowing four hits, one earned run and two walks while striking out three. Gausman threw 75 pitches and 51 strikes, 11 being called strikes, 11 foul balls, and 16 in-play strikes. He forced five ground balls and eight fly balls and generated 12 whiffs on the day. Gausman’s fastball averaged at 95.3 mph, maxing at 97.3 mph. His splitter averaged 85.3 mph, and his slider was similar. Both pitches worked artistically to miss barrels and force weak contact, and kept getting him into good counts and forcing the Yankees to swing at bad pitches.
Where did Gausman find his success? Aside from his pitch mixing, he split well on placements in and out of the zone. He threw 39 pitches in the zone and 36 pitches out of the zone.
Gausman worked the Yankees’ lineup aggressively, and they amounted to nothing but one run.
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