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Throwback Thursday: Looking at the Blue Jays 4-0 victory over the Yankees in late-September 2015
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Photo credit: © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Apr 24, 2025, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 23, 2025, 19:59 EDT
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The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays were special.
For the first time in 2025, the Blue Jays head to the Bronx to take on the American League East-leading New York Yankees starting Friday. This is an important early-season series against their division foes.
A decade ago, and much later in the season, the Jays hosted the Yankees with the division title at stake. In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’ll take a look at the Blue Jays’ 152nd game of the season, an important one for the 2015 Jays.

The setup

On June 2nd, 2015, they had a 23-30 record after the first game of their doubleheader. While not out of the race for the division, things were starting to slip away as they sat at the bottom of the American League roster and four and a half games back of the division-leading New York Yankees. This was the most games below .500 they were all season.
Something changed in the second half of the doubleheader, as Kevin Pillar hit two home runs off Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals in a 7-3 win, which snapped a three-game losing streak. They went on to win their next 11 games. Before the trade deadline, the Jays traded for Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. 
Those trades were necessary. After the July 28th game, the Jays sat eight games back of the division lead. Earlier that day, they made a massive trade by acquiring  Tulowitzki. On trade deadline day three days later, the Jays acquired David Price from the Detroit Tigers.
That led to a fantastic August, where they went 21-6 to put themselves in a position to clinch first spot in the American League East, as they had a game-and-a-half lead on the Yankees heading into the month. 
After the September 20th game, the Jays had an 11-5 record, giving them a two-and-a-half game lead over the Yankees entering the pivotal series against the Bronx Bombers. They won 4-2 in the first game, but followed that with a 6-4 extra innings loss.
Let’s take a look at the rubber match.

The game

The starting pitchers in the September 23rd game were Marcus Stroman for the Blue Jays and Iván Nova for the Yankees. This was Stroman’s first start of the season, as he tore his ACL in Spring Training by planting his knee awkwardly.
Recovery for a torn ACL takes on average six months to a year. Stroman returned to game action on August 11, so about five months. During his rehab, Stroman also finished his degree at Duke University.
What’s even more impressive was this start. He struck out the first two batters he faced before Alex Rodríguez grounded out. The second inning saw two balls in play that were caught, before striking out Blue Jays Spring Training legend Greg Bird. Stroman struck out another batter in the third inning while allowing a single, with the fourth inning also being capped off with a strikeout.
Stroman didn’t register a strikeout in the fifth inning, but avoided any damage thanks to a double play and a groundout after giving up a double and a single. In the sixth inning, the Jays added a run as Kevin Pillar hit an RBI single to drive in Russell Martin.
The Jays’ ace ran into some baserunners in the top of the seventh. He allowed a hit and a walk, but got two fly outs and a lineout to finish his outing with a line of 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Not bad for a player coming back from an ACL tear.
That led us to the bottom of the seventh.

The home run

Nova was out of the game, and the Yankees turned to Andrew Bailey for duty in the bottom of the seventh. The eventual AL MVP, Josh Donaldson, led off the inning with his 40th double of the season. José Bautista grounded out with Donaldson moving to third. With an open base, the Yankees walked Edwin Encarnación, probably the right decision. Justin Smoak struck out as Encarnación stole second base to put runners at second and third with two outs.
Then, it happened. On a 2-2 count and the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Canadian catcher Russell Martin hit the home run that essentially brought the Jays back to the playoffs for the first time in 22 seasons, and the first time in my lifetime.
This, without question, is my favourite home run of all time. There are a lot of contenders for that title: Bautista’s bat flip in the American League Divisional Series, Encarnación’s in the 2016 Wild Card game, and Marcus Semien’s walkoff home run late in the 2021 season. However, no other home run evokes the same emotion as this one does.
The impact it made in the game and the Blue Jays’ playoff chances are a big factor, but so too is just how loud the crowd is. It didn’t just drain out the home run horn, but also Buck Martinez’s call of the home run. It’s just perfect and it’s up there for my favourite sporting moments ever, alongside the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 championship run and Jordan Eberle’s last-second game-tying goal in the 2009 World Juniors.
When I think of the 2015 Blue Jays, I think of this home run.

What happened next

The Jays never relinquished their 4-0 lead, nor their grasp on the top of the division. This kick-started a six-game win streak for the Jays. They hosted the Tampa Bay Rays for the next series, sweeping the three-game series. They won a 4-3 game in the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, and then thumped them 15-2 to clinch the division.
In the playoffs, well, we know what happened in the playoffs. They were down 2-0 in the series against the Texas Rangers, but overcame that and defeated them in reverse sweep fashion. Sadly, they fell to the eventual World Series winner, the Kansas City Royals, in the American League Championship Series. What could’ve been, this was the perfect team.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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