NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit a tying three-run homer in the fourth inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. socked a go-ahead solo homer in the fifth and the New York Yankees avoided elimination in the American League Division Series with a 9-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 on Tuesday.
The Yankees stormed back from a 6-1 deficit through 2 1/2 innings thanks to the homers from Judge and Chisholm off Louis Varland (0-1).
“Happy with how the offense responded and pitching staff responded, and live to see another day,” Judge said.
New York forced Game 4 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, when rookie Cam Schlittler will start for the hosts while the Blue Jays are expected to use a bullpen game.
New York also overcame Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s third homer of the series. Guerrero went deep on Carlos Rodon’s 2-0 changeup three batters into the contest and scored on a headfirst slide on a single by Ernie Clement in Toronto’s four-run third.
The Blue Jays led 6-3 with one out in the bottom of the fourth when New York’s Austin Wells reached on a fielding error by third baseman Addison Barger. Trent Grisham walked, and Varland replaced Mason Fluharty on the mound.
Judge swung and missed at a 100 mph fastball for an 0-2 count and took a timeout. On the next pitch, the AL batting champion and two-time MVP hit a fastball off the left field foul pole to forge a 6-6 tie.
“You just got so much adrenaline pumping and you’re so locked in on the moment,” Judge said. “You really don’t hear anything. The noise is probably so loud it’s deafening. … I was locked in on my teammates, locked in on the ball. You’re kind of floating around the bases. Before you know it, you’re back in the dugout and the moment’s over and it’s time to cheer on the next guy.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “It’s an amazing swing. That’s shades of Edgar Martinez right there, taking that high and tight one and keeping it fair down the line. Manny Ramirez used to do that really well, too. But just a great swing on a pretty nasty pitch obviously.”
Asked whether he thought the ball would stay fair, Boone said, “I have such a good angle from where I sit on fair/foul down the left field line. So I was kind of giving it some body language, but I felt like it was going to hold.
“The wind most of the night … the ball was carrying to left, and that at-bat, when I looked up, the flag was dead. So probably keeping it from maybe blowing it foul.”
It was Judge’s 17th career postseason homer. Before connecting, Judge was seen consulting with Giancarlo Stanton in the dugout during the pitching change.
Judge ended the night 3-for-4 with a walk, his second career three-hit game in the postseason. He set a career playoff high with four RBIs.
After Varland fanned Stanton for the first out of the fifth, Chisholm sent a 1-1 fastball into the second deck of the right field seats for a 7-6 lead.
Wells added an RBI single later in the inning. In the sixth, Judge was intentionally walked with the bases empty and one out. After Cody Bellinger doubled Judge to third, Ben Rice lifted a sacrifice fly.
For Toronto, Daulton Varsho hit an RBI single and Anthony Santander had a two-run single in the third.
Alluding to the Blue Jays’ errors that led to two unearned runs, Toronto manager John Schneider said, “It’s tough as a whole to play here. I think we did a really good job of coming out and taking the lead. You’re talking about giving a really good team extra outs.”
Rodon allowed six runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings and was lifted after Santander’s hit. After Rodon’s short start, five New York relievers combined on 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
Fernando Cruz got four outs, and Camilo Doval recorded three outs. Tim Hill (1-0) stranded Clement at second with the score tied in the fifth before pitching a 1-2-3 sixth.
Devin Williams pitched a perfect seventh and got the first out of the eighth. David Bednar ended a five-out save by retiring Guerrero on a grounder to third base.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
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