For the first time in a long time, the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a> have taken a stronghold in their respective ALDS series. Their job wasn’t close to being done entering yesterday&#8217;s contest at the Rogers Centre – they needed to win all home games to reach a healthy amount of optimism. The Blue Jays weren’t quite out of the woods yet, but the second game of the ALDS changed everything for the better.

Naming rookie<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-trey-yesavage-proves-he-is-built-for-the-big-moments"> Trey Yesavage</a> as the Game 2 starter proved to be the right move all along. The New York Yankees weren’t going to have access to their Trajekt machine to practice, and that impacted how the game played out as Yesavage managed to strike out 11 batters. The 22-year-old starter surrendered one walk while granting no hits to Yankees’ hitters through 5 1/3 innings. With his outstanding performance, Yesavage <a href="https://x.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1974952216705610165">became</a> the fifth rookie pitcher with the most strikeouts in a postseason game and broke a franchise postseason single-game strikeout record.
To support the young starter, the Blue Jays’ lineup did more than just provide run support. In other words, they practically humiliated the Yankees by scoring a whopping 13 runs and forcing out New York’s ace Max Fried by the fourth inning. In total, Fried gave up seven runs to Toronto, including one home run. Reliever Will Warren, who later replaced Fried, surrendered six earned runs as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed his first postseason grand slam and the first in Jays postseason history.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Trey Yesavage&#39;s first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Postseason?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Postseason</a> start: Not bad 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/Hgs8KN9fiQ">pic.twitter.com/Hgs8KN9fiQ</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974986344767381547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Once again, this scoring fest wouldn’t have been possible if nearly everyone in the lineup hadn’t contributed to getting on base one way or another. Aside from Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nathan Lukes (who was a replacement during the game), everyone in Toronto’s lineup either took a walk or had at least one hit in this important Game 2, which propelled the Blue Jays to their second ALDS win.
Game 2 wasn’t exactly the smoothest win for the Blue Jays as a group of their relievers struggled to get outs right away after taking the ball from Yesavage. As one of the better-hitting teams, New York took advantage of Toronto’s low-leverage relievers like Justin Bruihl and Tommy Nance to score five runs to cut down the Blue Jays’ lead by six runs when the final out was recorded. This relief issue will be something John Schneider et al will have to pay attention to as the team navigates the rest of the ALDS, especially with the next two games taking place in the Bronx.
Thankfully, the Blue Jays haven’t replicated their playoff misery in 2022 and 2023 so far. They did exactly what they needed to do by winning two home games to sap out any momentum on the Yankees’ side. With their sharp starting pitching and unrelenting contact-based offensive approach, they are close to doing the improbable this postseason &#8211; at least from the eyes of national media outlets.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
VARSHO DOES IT AGAIN! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WANTITALL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WANTITALL</a> <a href="https://t.co/QLj8lOodVP">pic.twitter.com/QLj8lOodVP</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974961347721884033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Their revenge tour is only<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-yesavage-guerrero-make-history-commanding-win-over-new-york-yankees"> just beginning</a> after missing out on the playoffs with 91 wins in 2021. This is also their payback time for ignominious 2022 and 2023 playoff exits. The Blue Jays will need one more win to shut the doors on the Yankees to advance to the ALCS, but that road will be far from a cake walk, as evidenced by the calibre of New York’s offence. The Bronx Bombers underperformed massively north of the border, but it will hold the home-field advantage starting this week.
The Blue Jays’ job is to avoid the trap of being complacent.
The Yankees were battling for the AL East division lead up until the last day of the regular season for a reason – they aren’t to be underestimated under any circumstances. Their productive at-bats at the top of the seventh inning on Sunday served as a warning that they can inflict agony on their rivals. Not giving New York even a slim opportunity to come back will determine the Blue Jays’ postseason destiny moving forward. To effectively bottle up the Yankees, Toronto will have to have even more patient plate appearances, in the hopes of gassing out every part of New York’s pitching staff. They will also have to pitch immaculately and suppress home runs. But most of all, they will have to find ways to stop Aaron Judge from becoming a playoff hero and keep the Yankees and their fans at bay.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS HIS THEME MUSIC 💥 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PLAKATA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PLAKATA</a> <a href="https://t.co/SaCVidJw3w">pic.twitter.com/SaCVidJw3w</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974948611973697981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Toronto’s revenge tour is still up and running. Everything was firing on the Blue Jays’ side this weekend, and they will need these factors to play out at Yankee Stadium to stop their AL East rival. In the summer, Buck Martinez talked about how the Yankees weren’t a good team, even if their win-loss record was impeccable. Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone vocally disagreed to indicate that his team won’t go out quietly. But it’s time for the 2025 Blue Jays to prove Buck right.
The sweetest revenge is moving on, and Toronto can do just that by punching the ALCS in the Bronx. Just get the job done – it’s as simple as that.
<hr />
<h2>PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST</h2>
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Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1752618160475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OzeJ9qt2a5kxzVjmdwaEg">Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.</a>

For the first time in a long time, the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a> have taken a stronghold in their respective ALDS series. Their job wasn’t close to being done entering yesterday's contest at the Rogers Centre – they needed to win all home games to reach a healthy amount of optimism. The Blue Jays weren’t quite out of the woods yet, but the second game of the ALDS changed everything for the better.



Naming rookie<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-trey-yesavage-proves-he-is-built-for-the-big-moments"> Trey Yesavage</a> as the Game 2 starter proved to be the right move all along. The New York Yankees weren’t going to have access to their Trajekt machine to practice, and that impacted how the game played out as Yesavage managed to strike out 11 batters. The 22-year-old starter surrendered one walk while granting no hits to Yankees’ hitters through 5 1/3 innings. With his outstanding performance, Yesavage <a href="https://x.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1974952216705610165">became</a> the fifth rookie pitcher with the most strikeouts in a postseason game and broke a franchise postseason single-game strikeout record.

To support the young starter, the Blue Jays’ lineup did more than just provide run support. In other words, they practically humiliated the Yankees by scoring a whopping 13 runs and forcing out New York’s ace Max Fried by the fourth inning. In total, Fried gave up seven runs to Toronto, including one home run. Reliever Will Warren, who later replaced Fried, surrendered six earned runs as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed his first postseason grand slam and the first in Jays postseason history.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974986344767381547

Once again, this scoring fest wouldn’t have been possible if nearly everyone in the lineup hadn’t contributed to getting on base one way or another. Aside from Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nathan Lukes (who was a replacement during the game), everyone in Toronto’s lineup either took a walk or had at least one hit in this important Game 2, which propelled the Blue Jays to their second ALDS win.

Game 2 wasn’t exactly the smoothest win for the Blue Jays as a group of their relievers struggled to get outs right away after taking the ball from Yesavage. As one of the better-hitting teams, New York took advantage of Toronto’s low-leverage relievers like Justin Bruihl and Tommy Nance to score five runs to cut down the Blue Jays’ lead by six runs when the final out was recorded. This relief issue will be something John Schneider et al will have to pay attention to as the team navigates the rest of the ALDS, especially with the next two games taking place in the Bronx.

Thankfully, the Blue Jays haven’t replicated their playoff misery in 2022 and 2023 so far. They did exactly what they needed to do by winning two home games to sap out any momentum on the Yankees’ side. With their sharp starting pitching and unrelenting contact-based offensive approach, they are close to doing the improbable this postseason - at least from the eyes of national media outlets.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974961347721884033

Their revenge tour is only<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-yesavage-guerrero-make-history-commanding-win-over-new-york-yankees"> just beginning</a> after missing out on the playoffs with 91 wins in 2021. This is also their payback time for ignominious 2022 and 2023 playoff exits. The Blue Jays will need one more win to shut the doors on the Yankees to advance to the ALCS, but that road will be far from a cake walk, as evidenced by the calibre of New York’s offence. The Bronx Bombers underperformed massively north of the border, but it will hold the home-field advantage starting this week.

The Blue Jays’ job is to avoid the trap of being complacent.

The Yankees were battling for the AL East division lead up until the last day of the regular season for a reason – they aren’t to be underestimated under any circumstances. Their productive at-bats at the top of the seventh inning on Sunday served as a warning that they can inflict agony on their rivals. Not giving New York even a slim opportunity to come back will determine the Blue Jays’ postseason destiny moving forward. To effectively bottle up the Yankees, Toronto will have to have even more patient plate appearances, in the hopes of gassing out every part of New York’s pitching staff. They will also have to pitch immaculately and suppress home runs. But most of all, they will have to find ways to stop Aaron Judge from becoming a playoff hero and keep the Yankees and their fans at bay.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1974948611973697981

Toronto’s revenge tour is still up and running. Everything was firing on the Blue Jays’ side this weekend, and they will need these factors to play out at Yankee Stadium to stop their AL East rival. In the summer, Buck Martinez talked about how the Yankees weren’t a good team, even if their win-loss record was impeccable. Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone vocally disagreed to indicate that his team won’t go out quietly. But it’s time for the 2025 Blue Jays to prove Buck right.

The sweetest revenge is moving on, and Toronto can do just that by punching the ALCS in the Bronx. Just get the job done – it’s as simple as that.

<hr />

<h2>PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST</h2>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88534" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/6IS-107-GRA_ShowPromo_727x404-V4.2.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" /></a>

Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@bluejaysnationdotcom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1752618160475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OzeJ9qt2a5kxzVjmdwaEg">Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.</a>

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