Yankees can’t put Rogers Centre woes behind them as bats, arms flop in ALDS blowout

TORONTO — With the bases loaded, nobody out and Aaron Judge up at the plate, the Yankees finally looked like a threat in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Kevin Gausman had been effective and economical through the first five innings, requiring just 50 pitches with the help of some dazzling defense and impatient at-bats from the Bombers. But with Anthony Volpe leading the sixth off with a double and Austin Wells and Trent Grisham following with a single and a walk, respectively, the right-hander seemed to be in serious trouble with Judge, fresh off another MVP-caliber season, approaching the batter’s box.

Alas, the Yankees captain, whose postseason shortcomings have been well-documented, struck out on eight pitches, chasing a 3-2 splitter below the zone. Judge’s waving bat elicited a roar from Rogers Centre’s packed crowd, which erupted again a few batters later when Louis Varland fanned Giancarlo Stanton with a 100.7-mph, inning-ending fastball down the heart of the plate.

“I wouldn’t say [I was] overanxious. If you saw the whole at-bat, I definitely took some tough pitches. But in the end, I didn’t get the job done,” Judge said, admitting he swung at ball four after also going 2-for-4 with a double. “That’s why he’s been in this game for a long time and had a lot of success. That’s his bread and butter.”

With the Yankees only mustering one run on a walk in the sixth, the Blue Jays went on to rally late before winning the first-ever postseason matchup between the division rivals, 10-1. The outcome followed a regular season that saw the Yankees play some of their worst baseball north of the border, as they lost 6-of-7 games at the Rogers Centre over two series this summer.

They went 5-8 against Toronto overall.

“They’re a tough team, regardless of the ballpark,” Volpe said.

Kevin Gausman strikes out Aaron Judge in a massive spot! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/Z4pkQJN4tp

— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2025

While the Yankees’ bats were nearly silenced by Gausman, Luis Gil put them in an early hole, surrendering two homers in the first two innings.

The righty’s first mistake came with two outs in the opening frame, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has made his distaste for the Yankees well-known, took the pitcher deep for a solo home run, the first of his postseason career. Guerrero, who worked through some mechanical adjustments during the Blue Jays’ bye week — their reward for outlasting the Yankees in an American League East race that came down to the regular season’s final day — had not homered in his last 21 games.

With one Yankees killer putting Toronto on the board, another padded the Jays’ lead in the second inning when Alejandro Kirk led off with another bases-empty blast. Gil didn’t surrender any more runs after that, but the Jays ran him from the game with two outs in the third inning after Guerrero, who also recorded an unassisted diving double play in the second, lined a single.

Gil totaled four hits, two runs, two strikeouts and 48 pitches over 2.2 innings, the shortest outing of a campaign that was limited to 11 regular season starts thanks to a spring training lat injury.

Gil said he was surprised to see Aaron Boone pull him so soon, but he noted, “This is a playoff game. It’s a little different than the regular season.” Boone, meanwhile, said he felt the Jays were “hunting” Gil up in the zone.

Despite some strong surface numbers, the 2025 version of Gil has not resembled the 2024 version, who won the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award with a high-octane fastball that racked up strikeouts.

With his season debut delayed until Aug. 3 this year, Gil had to fight through the same command issues he displayed a season ago, but without the velocity and whiffs that set him apart. He still managed a 3.32 ERA — enough for the Yankees to publicly insist they liked what they saw — but he clearly benefited from some good luck along the way.

That luck ran out Saturday after the Yankees settled on Gil as their Game 1 starter over Will Warren. The rookie, another righty, posted a 4.44 ERA over 33 starts this season, but he struggled in his lone outing against Toronto, allowing 10 hits, eight earned runs and four walks in Canada on July 2.

Warren hasn’t pitched in the postseason — Gil started in the ALCS and World Series last year — so Boone opted to keep the rookie in the bullpen for now.

Speaking of the bullpen, the Yankees’ first two relievers kept the club in the game Saturday, as Tim Hill and Camilo Doval allowed just one hit over 3.1 scoreless innings. However, Luke Weaver’s struggles continued, as he began the seventh with a five-pitch walk and a single before permitting an RBI knock to Andrés Giménez.

With Fernando Cruz taking over from there, Weaver failed to record an out for the second time in as many appearances this postseason, as he gave up two runs in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series before being charged with three on Saturday.

Afterward, Weaver acknowledged that he’s been tipping his pitches and struggling to adjust.

“I don’t want to get too crazy into it, but there’s been adjustments I’ve had to make based off of things that people are seeing, and it just hasn’t really lined up,” he said, adding that he’s fine physically. “It’s been pretty late in the adjustment period, and it’s just not lining up out there. I don’t really feel like myself. I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.”

Those who followed Weaver didn’t fare any better, as Nathan Lukes ripped a two-run double off Cruz before Guerrero added a sac fly. The eighth inning brought more damage, as Kirk crushed another solo homer off Paul Blackburn.

The righty also allowed an RBI double to Giménez, a sac fly to Ernie Clement and an RBI single to Lukes, turning Game 1 of the ALDS into a laugher at the Yankees’ expense.

Despite the lopsided loss, the Yankees preached the same even-keel confidence that got them through the season and the Wild Card round, which also started with a loss.

“We’re gonna keep the same mindset we’ve had all year,” Judge said with the Yankees’ ace, Max Fried, starting Game 2. “Keep focusing on today. This game’s over with. It got out of hand, couldn’t come back, but we got a big game coming up tomorrow.”