The Blue Jays punched their ticket to the American League Championship Series on Wednesday night, defeating the New York Yankees 5-2 in the Bronx.
It marked Toronto’s first playoff series victory in nearly a decade and came courtesy of timely hits and a game pitched almost entirely by members of the bullpen.
The Jays got off to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., driving in George Springer who had a leadoff double. New York’s Ryan McMahon hit a solo homer to tie the game in the third.
Toronto gradually built their lead to 5-1 — a big two-run hit from Toronto’s Nathan Lukes came in the seventh, and Myles Straw had an RBI in the eighth.
The Yankees managed to score just one more run in the bottom of the ninth to make it 5-2.
Varland, then 7 more pitchers
The Jays did not have a regular starter available for Game 4, leaving manager John Schneider to build a pitching plan around his bullpen, which he also used heavily in Tuesday’s Game 3.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider celebrates in the locker room on Wednesday. (Frank Franklin II/The Associated Press)
While speaking to reporters ahead of Game 4, Schneider likened his pitching strategy to “a chess game.”
“I think that’s what makes these series interesting and fun,” he said. “And you can’t take anything for granted.”
He chose hard-throwing Louis Varland as the first of eight Blue Jays pitchers to take the mound in the game.
The unconventional effort panned out for the Jays, as they allowed just two runs.
While Yankees starter Cam Schlittler was relatively solid in his six-plus innings, the Jays managed to get eight hits off the New York rookie.
The Jays had 12 hits overall.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the disappointment he and his team felt, but he also saluted Toronto’s victory.
“We got beat here,” he told reporters after the game. “Credit to the Blue Jays and the year they’ve had and they beat us … simple as that.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connects for a single to drive in a run against the New York Yankees during the first inning Wednesday.
(Frank Franklin II/The Associated Press)Yankees a tough opponent
Both the Yankees and the Blue Jays finished the regular season with the same number of wins, but Toronto took the division title because it won more of its regular season games against New York.
The Blue Jays last made it to the ALCS in 2016, where they were defeated by Cleveland, a team that went on to lose the World Series to the Chicago Cubs.
The Jays were last at the World Series when they won back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993.
WATCH | They’re American — and they’re rooting for the Jays:
They’re American — and rooting for the Jays
CBC’s Greg Ross tracked down some American Jays fans at Game 3 to find out what reaction they’re getting from Yankees supporters.
Prior to this series, the Jays had not played the Yankees in the post-season before.
Early Blue Jays playoff runs in the ’80s and ’90s occurred at a time when only one team per division made the post-season. Because the Yankees played in the same division, the two teams were never on a path to play one another at that time.
And in more recent post-season matchups, the Jays didn’t draw the Yankees as an opponent.