Blue Jays pitcher gets immediate redemption chance after Aaron Judge left him lost

It never feels good to say it, but it was one of those moments where you just have to tip your cap to the opponent. That's the case for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland who gave up a three-run home run to Aaron Judge in the bottom of the fourth in Game 3 on Tuesday.

The home run by Judge tied the game, and erase a five run lead for the Blue Jays who were ahead 6-1 after the first two-and-a-half innings. But the Yankees stormed back, their starter Shane Bieber left the game before the end of the third, and Judge caused damage when the Yankees needed him the most.

Blue Jays pitcher gets immediate redemption chance after Aaron Judge left him lost

Following the game, Varland was asked about the pitch and he told reporters, "He made a really good pitch look really bad." There's the tip of the cap to one of the games best hitters from a reliever who really understands and trusts his craft.

It was a pitch that was just shy of 100 mph, clocked at 99.7. It was inside on the hands with late movement cutting towards the batter. The fact that Judge was not only able to get around on it, and barrel it, and keep it fair is mighty impressive.

But Varland has a chance to make up for that pitch, and get the Blue Jays back on track in what has now turned into the most important game of the season. Varland will start Game 4 on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in an "Opener" role - as the Blue Jays have elected to use this game as a bullpen day.

In some ways, it's sort of mind boggling to think that a team that had 'too many' starters after the trade deadline, now doesn't have enough guys to get through a five-game series. At one point they had on their roster Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, José Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Eric Lauer, and later, Trey Yesavage. Berrios, Bassitt and Scherzer aren't on the playoff roster while Lauer has turned into more of a swing-man.

That leaves the ball in the hands of Louis Varland who will make his second start this year for Toronto. While the idea of a bullpen game is certainly not the most comforting notion for Blue Jays fans, they can take solace in the fact that this isn't virgin territory for Varland. On Sept. 25 at Rogers Centre, Varland opened against the Red Sox in what was a must-win game for the Blue Jays and in his two innings he struck out three batters without giving up a hit.

If he can replicate that stat line, it should give the Blue Jays a boost. After all, they would only need to figure out how to get 21 more outs, simple right? In that game against the Red Sox the Blue Jays used Lauer for 3.1 innings, followed by Yariel Rodriguez, Braydon Fisher, Seranthony Dominguez, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman. The bullpen allowed one run on four hits, and the Blue Jays won 6-1.

After back-to-back games where the Blue Jays bullpen has looked less than adequate, it's time for them, as a unit, to pitch the biggest game of their lives, and Varland will look to lead them as the first man out and not blow a 2-0 ALDS series lead.