How do the Blue Jays bounce back from an ALDS Game 3 disaster against the Yankees?

Toronto Blue Jays fans want to erase the memory of Game 3 as quickly as possible. Shane Bieber struggled, allowing five hits, a walk, and three runs (one unearned run) while striking out just two batters.

He needed to go deeper than 2.2 innings with a bullpen game on tap for Game 4, but that may be a poor managerial decision even with Bieber struggling. You can't ask your bullpen to pitch 5.1 innings one night with a bullpen day scheduled for the following day.

How do the Blue Jays bounce back from an ALDS Game 3 disaster against the Yankees?

Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn't help Bieber by booting a routine ground ball off the bat of Ben Rice in the first inning, which would have ended the inning. Giancarlo Stanton came up next and hit a single to left field that scored Aaron Judge from second base.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, things got really ugly. Mason Fluharty was on the mound with a 6-3 lead, struck out Anthony Volpe, and then I’m still dumbfounded by what Addison Barger was thinking, calling off Davis Schneider on a fly ball. The third baseman appeared to have lost the ball in the lights, needing to sprint immediately after calling for it, and dropped the fly ball off the bat of Austin Wells.

Trent Grisham would walk next, and then Louis Varland came in to face Aaron Judge. On a 0-2 count, Varland threw a four-seam fastball up and in on the right-handed batter, but Judge impressively kept his hands in close and pulled the ball off the left-field foul pole.

Most hitters would get around on the far inside pitch and pull it foul, but Judge is not most hitters. The three-run homer tied the game up and took all the air out of the Blue Jays' faithful.

The Yankees would add two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, a Jazz Chisolm Jr. solo home run and a Wells RBI single. They'd add another in the bottom of the sixth off an Anthony Santander mental mistake. Judge was intentionally walked, and then Cody Bellinger hit a low line drive to the right fielder, who dove for the ball. With the ball having topspin off the left-handed hitter’s bat, the ball dies quicker than a line drive from a right-handed batter, and Santander came nowhere close to the ball. It'd bounce by him, giving Bellinger a double and moving Judge to third.

Rice followed that up by hitting a sacrifice fly, but if Santander fields the ball in front of him, it keeps Judge at second, then he doesn't score on the sacrifice fly. Obviously, with one out, a team would pitch to a batter differently with runners on first and second, hoping for a ground ball versus second and third, so that Rice may have had a different outcome. However, that extra run didn't matter as the Yankees' bullpen unexpectedly shut down the hot Blue Jays' bats, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings.

Now the Blue Jays need to put Game 3 behind them and come out focused for Game 4 on Wednesday night. That's easier said than done, as the team may feel pressured to do more than necessary, which may have contributed to the defensive disaster last night.

It's assumed to be a bullpen night with Louis Varland starting, but with six relievers used last night, there's also a thought that maybe Kevin Gausman could go on short rest and give the Blue Jays at least five solid innings.

There’s a day off before Game 5 if necessary, so the Blue Jays could have used Gausman for Game 4 and then throw Rookie sensation Trey Yesavage on four days' rest. The Yankees have been struggling against the splitter this series, and both Gausman and Yesavage excel with that pitch.

Gausman is a veteran and can handle the short rest; moreover, this would have offered the team a higher level of success than a bullpen game, a bullpen that has already thrown 15.1 innings in three games, so the Yankees are familiar with those pitchers.

Offensively, Blue Jays fans can chalk the struggles versus the Yankees' bullpen last night as a fluke. The team has scored 14 runs against the bullpen in the first two games, although six of those came off Will Warren, who is a starter who pitched long relief in Game 2.

It'll be interesting to see how Yankees' manager Aaron Boone decides to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has three home runs and eight RBIs in the series, even if the Yankees elect to walk Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho (.583/.615/.1.333), and Ernie Clement (.636/.583/.1000) hit behind the first baseman and have been crushing the ball this series.

The Yankees will start Cam Schlittler on the mound Wednesday. He looked outstanding against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card round, throwing eight scoreless innings and striking out 12, but the Blue Jays have faced the 24-year-old twice this season.

The first matchup was on July 7 in Toronto, where Schlittler threw five innings, allowed two earned runs, and struck out three; however, on September 5 in New York, the Blue Jays knocked the righty out of the game after only 1.2 innings. He walked two and hit a batter, and the Blue Jays had five hits that resulted in four runs.

The offense should still be solid, and hopefully, so will the defense who was pressing last night with a sweep on the line. The Blue Jays faithful will still be fully behind the team, although we will be on the edge of our seats the whole game.