Oct 3, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) watches his players during workouts at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

History Against Yankees After Blue Jays Beatdown

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Erin Shapland | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The New York Yankees are up against long odds once again. With their second humiliating beatdown by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees have painted themselves into a corner and must once again be perfect or face elimination.

According to MLB's Bryan Hoch, if the Yankees do manage to claw their way back and win the ALDS, they will be joining very rare company.

"In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams to win both Games 1 and 2 at home have advanced 31 of 34 times (91.2%), including 20 sweeps," Hoch wrote. "The most recent comeback in both situations came in the 2017 ALDS, when the Yankees rallied past Cleveland."

On the other hand — the possibly-delusional other hand — this iteration of the Yankees may be best-suited to stand up under that kind of pressure. They've already crawled back from a 6.5-game deficit behind the Blue Jays in the AL East, and they managed to become the first team in the short history of the Wild Card format to come back from a lost first game and win the series, so it's possible they're activated by this kind of pressure. Asking for perfection over three games against this Blue Jays offense is likely too much, however.

Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

This second Yankees loss, 13-7, was partially due to a poor performance by Max Fried taken against an excellent performance by the Blue Jays' 22-year-old starter, Trey Yesavage, who pitched five perfect innings with 11 strikeouts before being replaced. The Yankees offense were quiet until the sixth inning, and while they made up some ground with seven runs, the Yankees pitchers gave up many more. When Fried was replaced in the fourth inning, Will Warren (being utilized out of the bullpen for this game) gave up a grand slam from the second batter he faced, Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero's grand slam in the fourth was the first grand slam in Blue Jays postseason history. Warren stayed in until the seventh inning.

The Yankees will have one day to regroup and think about their choices. After that, it's perfection or bust.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!