NEW YORK — Through two games, the New York Yankees have been unable to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and most of his other Blue Jays teammates, out.
Because of New York’s pitching woes, Toronto is on the verge of sweeping the first postseason series between the teams.
However, the Yankees hope they can figure out how to contain Guerrero and Co. when the American League Division Series shifts to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the best-of-five series on Tuesday.
New York left-hander Carlos Rodon is slated to pitch against right-hander Shane Bieber. If the Yankees can extend the series, rookie righty Cam Schlittler will start Game 4 on Wednesday against a possible bullpen game by Toronto.
After rough outings by Luis Gil and Max Fried over the weekend, the Yankees are trying to avoid being swept in an ALDS for the first time. It’s their third attempt at overcoming a 2-0 ALDS deficit, something they achieved in 2001 and 2017.
New York is returning home after seeing Guerrero go 6-for-9 with two homers and six RBIs in the first two games. The Yankees were outscored 23-8, posting a 12.94 ERA and permitting a .392 batting average.
“He’s a guy that hits the ball incredibly hard, has a good idea of the strike zone, has power when he gets kind of in that mode, too, a little bit,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Guerrero on Monday. “Obviously, he’s hit a couple balls out of the ballpark but also shown his kind of bat-to-ball skills where he can kind of spray it around the yard, too. He’s certainly hurt us so far, and hopefully we can contain that a little bit tomorrow.”
Guerrero is hardly the only Blue Jay off to a hot start. Toronto’s 23 runs are the most through the first two games of a postseason in team history, and the Blue Jays totaled eight homers among 29 hits in the first two games.
“My emotions are neutral right now,” Guerrero said through team translator Hector LeBron on Monday. “It’s not time to celebrate. It’s not time to put your head down. It’s not over.”
Daulton Varsho hit two homers in Sunday’s 13-7 win and is 6-for-8 in the series. Alejandro Kirk, 3-for-9 in the series, homered twice in Saturday’s 10-1 rout.
George Springer and Ernie Clement have also homered as the Blue Jays have improved to 10-5 against the Yankees in 2025. Toronto’s output against New York marked the first time a team scored double-digit runs twice in a division series versus the Yankees.
“We’re going to put the ball in play,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “We’ve done that over the course of the year. I think the home runs are a byproduct of a really good approach against specific pitchers that you’re really focused on at this time of year.”
The Yankees are hitting .232 in the series, but they’re hoping their seven-run output against Toronto’s bullpen can carry over into Game 3. Aaron Judge is 4-for-7 in the series, but he also struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning Saturday.
“It’s a tough task,” said left fielder Cody Bellinger, who has New York’s lone home run of the series. “Toronto is obviously a very good baseball team. I think, for myself, the confidence in the locker room that we have over here, it’s a strong bond. We’ve had such a fun time playing together, so we don’t want this ride to end.”
The Yankees are hoping Rodon can provide length after Gil and Fried combined to surrender nine runs and 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Rodon is 12-1 with a 5.32 ERA in five postseason starts for the Yankees. In Game 2 of the wild-card series against Boston, Rodon allowed three runs on four hits in six-plus innings.
Rodon is 2-3 with a 4.72 ERA in nine career starts against the Blue Jays and was 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts against them this season.
Rodon has particularly struggled against Guerrero, who is 10-for-17 in their matchups. However, he has held Springer to a .192 average (5-for-26) and Kirk to 3-for-11.
“He’s been obviously one of our horses this year,” Boone said. “He’s had a great year, and any time we give him the ball, we feel like we have an excellent chance to win.”
Bieber is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three career postseason starts, with two coming against the Yankees, versus whom he is 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA in five career starts.
Bieber was 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in seven regular-season starts after being acquired from Cleveland. He last pitched Sept. 26 against Tampa Bay, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media