Jeffrey Mizen, an Ontario-born Jays fan who lives in New York state, will be heading to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, hoping to\u00a0see something special unfold.<\/p>\n
“I know they’re gonna win,” he\u00a0told The Canadian Press. “They’re playing fantastic.”<\/p>\n
On this side of the border, Toronto superfan Lesley Mak is also\u00a0feeling “really good” about the team’s potential to go deeper into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
“The team of destiny feels unstoppable,” Mak said via email.<\/p>\n
WATCH | There’s a\u00a0lot to like about these Blue Jays:\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759827968_701_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
CBC\u2019s Marianne Dimain talks to Blue Jays superfan Lesley Mak on hopes for a world series run<\/p>\n
Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis.<\/p>\n
With a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five divisional series, the Jays need just one more win to move on to the next playoff round, the American League Championship Series (ALCS). The team also\u00a0made it to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Yankees\u00a0face a do-or-die moment in Game 3 Tuesday.\u00a0And if they pull\u00a0out a win over Toronto, they’ll\u00a0face the same scenario in a potential Game 4\u00a0on Wednesday, also in the Bronx.<\/p>\n
If Game 5 is necessary, that will take place in Toronto on Friday.<\/p>\n
So how did the Jays get to this point? Here’s a recap.<\/p>\n
2-0? How did that happen?<\/p>\n
The Jays’ offence exploded for a combined 23 runs in\u00a0the first two games.\u00a0And their starting pitching was excellent on both days as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday’s Game 1 saw Toronto beat New York 10-1<\/a>, with a home run from Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.\u00a0\u2014 his first since early September \u2014 and catcher Alejandro Kirk blasting two long balls.<\/p>\n Saturday’s Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman\u00a0didn’t allow a single run for five innings, then battled Yankees star Aaron Judge, who went down swinging with the bases loaded in the sixth. Gausman managed to limit the damage\u00a0to a single run when he walked the next batter, and got\u00a0vital backup<\/a>\u00a0from reliever Louis Varland, who threw a 101-mph\u00a0heater to strike out Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton\u00a0to end the inning.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Jays put up even more runs Sunday, beating the Yankees 13-7 \u2014 a lopsided score that belied the fact that Toronto rookie starter Trey Yesavage struck out 11<\/a>\u00a0batters (a franchise playoff record),\u00a0and didn’t surrender a single run.<\/p>\n It was the Toronto bullpen that yielded\u00a0those runs\u00a0\u2014 not 22-year-old Yesavage, whose epic performance came in just his fourth-ever major-league start.<\/p>\n WATCH | A sensational poset-season debut for Yesavage:\u00a0 Trey Yesavage dominates as Jays beat Yankees in Game 2<\/p>\n Rookie starting pitcher Trey Yesavage racked up the strikeouts in his playoff debut as he helped the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the New York Yankees to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series.<\/p>\n The Blue Jays hit five homers in Game 2 \u2014 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. parked a\u00a0grand slam into the second deck of Rogers Centre,\u00a0Daulton Varsho hit two homers, and Ernie Clement\u00a0and George Springer each\u00a0knocked one out of the park as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n “They were so dominant at the plate,” said Mak, summing up the offence that Toronto unleashed in Games 1 and 2.<\/p>\n Shane Bieber, a former Cy Young Award winner with\u00a0playoff experience, gets the start for Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 30-year-old\u00a0joined Toronto\u00a0via a deal made with Cleveland<\/a> at the trade deadline.\u00a0Through seven late-season starts for Toronto, Bieber went 4-2, striking out 37 batters in just over 40 innings<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He’s\u00a0matching up against the Yankees’ Carlos Rod\u00f3n \u2014 a 32-year-old veteran\u00a0who won 18 regular season games.<\/p>\n The only MLB pitcher who won more regular-season\u00a0games<\/a>\u00a0was Rod\u00f3n’s\u00a0teammate\u00a0Max Fried \u2014 the Yankees pitcher who the Jays torched for seven earned runs on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Is a sweep possible?<\/p>\n A sweep could happen, sure. But it’s not necessarily\u00a0likely.<\/p>\n The Yankees are a\u00a0strong team, winning 94 games during the regular season\u00a0\u2014 the same\u00a0as the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n However, Toronto got the division title\u00a0because the team won more games than\u00a0New York\u00a0when they\u00a0played each other<\/a>\u00a0during the regular season.<\/p>\n Winning the title meant\u00a0the Jays got almost a week of rest while the Yankees had to battle\u00a0the Boston Red Sox in a wildcard series that went to three games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking of wildcard series, in recent years, Toronto has been swept\u00a0on multiple occasions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0in 2020<\/a>, 2022<\/a>\u00a0and 2023<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 but those\u00a0exits came in shorter wildcard series.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2016, the Blue Jays swept the Texas Rangers in the ALDS,\u00a0marking\u00a0the first time Toronto ever achieved a playoff sweep<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n How helpful is a 2-0 lead?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Associated Press reports that teams with a 2-0 lead in past best-of-five post-season\u00a0series have won 80 of 90 times<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, two past Yankees squads\u00a0are among teams that have mounted a successful comebacks under these circumstances.<\/p>\n How confident are the Yankees?<\/p>\n Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he has “a ton” of confidence<\/a> in\u00a0Rod\u00f3n, his starter\u00a0for the must-win Game 3, and says\u00a0the Yankees have\u00a0been\u00a0“playing with a lot on the line every single day,” for weeks.<\/p>\n Veteran baseball writer Ken Rosenthal likewise believes the Yankees have shown they can dig when they need to, pointing to their\u00a011-1 run<\/a> at the end of the regular season.<\/p>\n “The challenge they face is not insurmountable,” Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Monday.<\/p>\n Other baseball observers are skeptical the Yankees can flip the script.<\/p>\n “Things are looking bleak, and the Yankees have only themselves to blame,” New York Post baseball writer Jon Heyman said in a recent column<\/a>, questioning if a turnaround is possible.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759827968_954_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vladimir-guerrero-jr-celebrating-a-grand-slam-in-toronto.jpg\")
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates his grand slam in the fourth inning of Sunday’s Game 2 against the Yankees, which Toronto won 13-7. (Mark Blinch\/Getty Images)Who’s up for Game 3?<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/toronto-blue-jays-starting-pitcher-shane-bieber-talks-to-the-media.jpg\")
Toronto starting pitcher Shane Bieber is slated to take the mound for Game 3 Tuesday. (Vaughn Ridley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/new-york-yankees-manager-aaron-boone.jpg\")
Yankees manager Aaron Boone speaks to the media at Yankee Stadium on Monday. (Seth Wenig\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n