TORONTO – The Yankees had the opportunity they wanted. After five innings mostly spent making hard right turns back to their dugout, Aaron Judge stepped in with the bases loaded and none out, a prime chance to correct his postseason narrative.
Judge swung through a Kevin Gausman splitter for strike three and the Yankees settled for one run, a squandered opportunity that defined their 10-1 loss to the Blue Jays in Saturday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Rogers Centre remains a house of horrors for the Yankees, who have lost seven of their eight games north of the border this season. Swinging early and often, the Yanks were limited to two baserunners through five frames before finally pressing Gausman with two hits and a walk.
Judge saw eight pitches before chasing out of the zone, and Cody Bellinger worked a four-pitch walk that forced home New York’s first run of the series. Ben Rice popped out to end Gausman’s afternoon, and Giancarlo Stanton struck out against Louis Varland, who blew a 100.7 mph heater past him.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk hit early homers off Luis Gil, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings. Yanks manager Aaron Boone made an aggressive call to the bullpen, as the reigning AL Rookie of the Year has struggled to miss bats since returning from injury.
Tim Hill and Camilo Doval steadied things into the seventh, when Luke Weaver’s issues resurfaced. As in the Wild Card Series opener against the Red Sox, Weaver faced three batters and retired none, including Andrés Giménez’s run-scoring single.
Weaver is the second pitcher in history to face three batters or more and not record an out in each of his first two appearances of a postseason, joining Rick Honeycutt of the 1989 A’s. Facing Fernando Cruz, Nathan Lukes added a two-run double and Guerrero lifted a sacrifice fly as the Blue Jays pulled away.
In postseason history, teams to win Game 1 in any best-of-five series have gone on to win the series 113 of 156 times (72.4%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams to win Game 1 at home have advanced 40 of 54 times (74.1%).
