It's put up or shut up time for the New York Yankees, as one more loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS means that their 2025 season would be coming to an end. But this Yankees team has been preaching patience and resilience all year, and with the roar of their home crowd at Yankee Stadium powering them, a comeback from 2-0 down is not the most unlikely thing in the world.
Aaron Judge is being made fun of on social media for not delivering when it matters, instead padding his stats when the game is already out of the Yankees' reach. Judge, however, shut down that talk in a huge way in Game 3 of their ALDS clash against the Blue Jays. With one out in the bottom of the fourth inning and New York already down by three, 6-3, Judge decimated a 100-mph fastball high outside the zone from Louis Varland and crushed it high off the left-field foul pole — tying the game at 6-6.
AARON JUDGE ANSWERS THE CALL 👏
3-run homer off the pole to tie it up for the Yankees!pic.twitter.com/Yix5EUVTX1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 8, 2025
In big moments are where superstars are made of, and Judge, who was the best hitter in MLB this past season according to many advanced metrics, finally brought down the gavel at a crucial time for the Yankees.
Just to put in perspective how locked in Judge is, he became the first player in MLB history in the pitch-tracking era (dating back to 2008) that a 99-mph (or faster) pitch that was 1.2 feet inside the plate (against the center of the zone) was hit for a home run, as pointed out by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Regular big-league hitters simply don't get to pitches that fast in on their hands, but the Yankees star has arguably the best bat speed in MLB right now and he managed to turn on that pitch and crush it without going foul.
Some Statcast on Aaron Judge's HR: It was off a 99.7 mph pitch that was 1.2 feet inside (vs. the center of the zone). It’s the first time in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), regular season or postseason combined, that a hitter has homered off a 99-plus mph pitch that also was… pic.twitter.com/qZe45cEWAF
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) October 8, 2025
This Judge home run might be the catalyst for the Yankees' ALDS comeback.
Aaron Judge gets the ball rolling as Yankees take lead in Game 3 of ALDS
It was very concerning when Carlos Rodon allowed the Blue Jays to score six earned runs in 2.1 innings of work. In the biggest game of the season thus far for the Yankees, this was not the start they envisioned to get from one of their best pitchers.
But this Yankees squad had the best offense in MLB this past season, and they showed how they could put runs on the board in a hurry. After Judge tied the game with his monster home run, the Yankees took the lead in the fifth on a home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and extended the lead to two (8-6) courtesy of an RBI single from Austin Wells.
The Yankees currently lead the Blue Jays, 8-6, in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 3.
