Blue Jays win and John Schneider angers Yankees fans all in one night

It’s that time of year; when baseball is at the pinnacle of excitement and the “magic numbers” start making an appearance as teams are competing for October baseball. For the Blue Jays, that number is currently at three, which is fantastic to see after finishing just shy of the playoffs last year with a talented core of players that have the potential to gain momentum and run deep this postseason.

In a tough AL East division, the Blue Jays find themselves in the thick of the Wild Card race, with the New York Yankees close to securing the division and could potentially do so in Toronto. That’s not all that is on the line though, as Aaron Judge, the Yankees slugging right fielder, is currently on track to break not only the club’s single-season home run record (set by Roger Maris) but also potentially a new AL single-season home run record in the process. He enters the series with 60 knocks on the year and needs one to tie Maris and two to take the outright lead.

Under the lights of the Rogers Centre, Kevin Gausman and the Blue Jays bullpen put history on the back burner, as the crew limited Judge to 1 for 3 on the day with two strikeouts and two walks (one intentional, but we will talk about that later).

Blue Jays limit the Yankees and continue Aaron Judge’s home run drought

For the Jays, Gausman pitched a great game, going 6.1 innings and allowing only two earned runs with one walk and seven strikeouts. He did allow a home run to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, which wasn’t the home run Yankees fans were hoping for, but it was his solo shot and a Gleyber Torres RBI that would be all the runs the Bronx Bombers could muster. The Jays’ bullpen would not allow a single hit following Gausman’s removal and they effectively closed out the game.

For the Blue Jays, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits apiece in the contest while a loud Teoscar Hernandez double with the bases loaded tied the game in the fourth inning, with the ball just inches away from being a grand slam. Guerrero Jr. stepped up to the plate in extra innings and was able to send Jays fans home happy, as he lined a ball to left and Cavan Biggio was able to score from second with ease, with the slugger informing the cameras that the Rogers Centre was indeed, “his house”.

Things got a bit dicey late in the game before the walk-off, as Jays manager John Schneider made a risky move in bringing in Tim Mayza to face Anthony Rizzo but intentionally walked Judge to load the bases, which drew the ire of some fans in the stands wanting to witness potential history and rightly pissing off a lot of Yankees fans on social media. Schneider has his eyes on the prize of postseason baseball and the move paid off as Rizzo grounded out to Guerrero Jr. to end the inning and the Jays walked it off in the bottom of the tenth shortly after.

While intentionally walking Judge and having the inscribed baseballs returned to their designated location probably left a sour taste in the mouths of baseball fans across the league, the Blue Jays and manager John Schneider likely don’t care. Their goal is to win and make the postseason, and after the walk-off last night, the magic number to clinching a playoff spot is down to just three games.

The Blue Jays will look to take the series tonight with Jose Berrios on the mound, who is looking to bounce back after his last rough outing against the Tampa Bay Rays last week. The Yankees will send Jameson Taillon to the mound.