TORONTO — The Yankees aren’t pretending this is where they want to be, but Aaron Judge says they’re not rattled.
Down 0-2 as the best-of-five American League Division Series shifts to the Bronx, the Bombers’ captain said this situation is “nothing new for us,” considering his club feels as though they have been fighting long odds for most of the season.
“We’ve been doing it all year long,” Judge said after the Yankees’ 13-7 loss to the Blue Jays in ALDS Game 2. “We’ve had our backs up against the wall and been in some tough spots. In the Wild Card Series, we lost the first one and played two elimination games. It’s kind of what we did even at the end of the year.
“We were chasing the division. We were out there and had to win every single game going down to the wire. So just get back to playing our brand of baseball, put the pressure on them, and anything can happen.”
The Yankees wrapped the regular season with an eight-game winning streak, finishing with 94 wins — matching their 2024 total — but settled for the Wild Card after Toronto claimed the tiebreaker by winning eight of the 13 head-to-head meetings.
They’ve rebounded once already this October, rallying from that early stumble against the Red Sox. Now they’ll have to do it again after being outscored 23–8 in two lopsided games at Rogers Centre.
“Obviously it feels like the world’s caving in around you — you lose two games like that in their building, where it doesn’t go right,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But, all of a sudden, you go out there and win a ballgame on Tuesday, the needle can change.”
Judge went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk in Game 2, with both of his hits coming off the bullpen after a dominant 5 1/3 inning effort by rookie Trey Yesavage. Judge also committed an error in right field, booting Daulton Varsho’s second-inning double ahead of Ernie Clement’s two-run homer.
While Judge is 8-for-18 (.444) this postseason, he has only one extra-base hit — an eighth-inning double in Game 1, when the score was already out of hand.
“I’m just trying to do my job — get on base, drive guys in when they’re out there, not trying to do too much,” Judge said. “What’s helped this team, and what’s been great for us all year long, is just kind of passing the baton. It’s kind of what we did there late in [Game 2] … putting pressure on the pitcher. We’ve got to keep that going and take that home.”
The Yankees were largely hushed as they zipped their travel bags, donning ath-leisure wear and ready to leave Canada behind. Judge said there was no clubhouse address following Game 2, just a familiar understanding: “We’ve been here before.”
“I even go back to my rookie year in ’17, we had a Wild Card Game and go to Cleveland, lose those first two against them,” Judge said. “They were division champs that year, too, just coming off an appearance in the World Series. We came out on the other side.”
Those 2017 Yankees are still the last team to rally from an 0-2 road deficit in a Division Series under the 2-2-1 format. Teams in that spot have advanced just three times in 34 tries (8.8%), including 20 sweeps.
Judge believes the experience and scars give this group perspective.
“We’ve got guys in here that have been to the World Series, been in some tough moments — backs against the wall all season long,” Judge said. “So we’ve just got to show up and do our thing.”
