Aaron Judge still thinks that his first career home run, the one he hit way back on Aug. 13, 2016, off Matt Andriese of the Tampa Bay Rays, is the biggest one of his life. You finally make “The Show,” he explained, and you really have no idea if you’re good enough to stick around. If you aren’t, you can at least say that you hit one in the big leagues.
Fair enough. But Judge hit one Tuesday night that maybe should rate even higher than the first one and higher than No. 62 back in his record-setting 2022. With the Yankees staring at elimination and a five-run deficit against the Blue Jays, who battered them in the first two games of the AL Division Series, Judge smashed a tying three-run homer in a fashion no one else seemingly has – more on that later – to propel a comeback that might’ve tilted this best-of-five series.
Couple that with the constant background cacophony about Judge’s October resume and his towering shot off Louis Varland that clanged high off the left-field foul pole was not just a game-changer, but a narrative-changer, too.
Aaron Boone called the Yankees’ 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 3 “an awesome team win,” and the manager was right – in addition to Judge, the bullpen was huge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a go-ahead home run and Giancarlo Stanton knocked in a pair. But, years from now, we probably won’t remember all that.
So how about this meatier, more lasting moniker for this one? “The Aaron Judge Game.”
Judge finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs. He was a triple short of the cycle, made a sparkling diving catch in right field with a runner on second and worried the Jays so much they intentionally walked him in the sixth (he later scored). He even stayed in a rundown between third and home long enough for Cody Bellinger to grab an extra base in the third inning, and Bellinger eventually scored on a sac fly.
“It was a ‘best-player-in-the-game performance,’” Boone said.
Even ardent Yankee fans have wondered about Judge under the high-wattage lights of postseason baseball. His numbers are lower than the plaque-worthy stats he puts up in the regular season. As recently as the aftermath of Game 1 of this series, when he whiffed with the bases loaded and nobody out, an at-bat that could’ve changed the game, he was answering questions about being “overanxious” at the plate. Every one of his swing decisions is dissected, his playoff rep often lamented.
Yankeeland was waiting for Judge to wreck an October. Well, he’s 11-for-22 in six games so far with that homer, two doubles and six RBI. He has a 1.304 OPS in these playoffs.
Now you have to wonder if he is going to take over this series. Will the Jays even pitch to him again? Should they?
To be fair, Toronto is still ahead in the series, two games to one. But they commanded Game 3, too, and the Yankees took it away. Now the Jays are planning a bullpen game against Cam Schilitter, the Yanks’ rookie who was the breakout star of the Wild Card series.
Who blinks if the teams go back to Toronto for a winner-take-all game, the team that surged into a tie or the one who owned the series but lost two straight? Yanks haven’t won in Toronto, but narratives can evolve.
Just ask Judge.
The home run itself was fascinating. It came on an 0-2 pitch, right after Varland had thrown a 100-mile-per-hour fastball past Judge. “He blew my doors off on the pitch before,” Judge acknowledged. Judge added: “He’s got all the leverage. He’s probably in attack mode. You’ve gotta attack that head on.”
Varland’s next pitch was 99.7 mph, way inside. Judge kept his hands in and pulled it down the left-field line. According to Andrew Simon, a researcher for MLB, no one in the pitch tracking era (since 2008) had ever hit a home run on a 99-plus pitch that went as far inside as this one did. It was also the fastest pitch Judge had ever homered against. Boone said he’d only seen powerful righty hitters such as Edgar Martinez and Manny Ramirez hit balls like that.
Asked why he liked the pitch, Judge perhaps alluded to the questions he faced earlier in the series.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I get yelled at for swinging out of the zone, now I’m getting praise…It looked good to me.”
Still, it was unclear whether Judge’s drive would stay fair. Boone noticed the flags in left had stopped flapping, a hopeful sign that no wind would push it too far left. The manager leaned in the dugout – using “body English” – to will the ball fair. Judge stood at the plate, watching, then tossed his bat after the ball hit the pole. Later, the slugger wondered if Yankee Stadium ghosts had any influence on where the ball ended up.
Whatever the case, Judge authored a significant October moment in the midst of a remarkable game. It helped save the Yankees’ season.
It should quiet the noise that Judge is never quite himself in the postseason, too.
AARON JUDGE TIES UP GAME 3!!!!! pic.twitter.com/5Y5VWgZ4pd
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 8, 2025
