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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads Blue Jays to ALDS lead
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates after hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees during game two of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads Blue Jays to series lead over Yankees

The New York Yankees have proven to be playing out of their league, as the Toronto Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series behind a 13-7 Game 2 win. Scoring a combined 23 runs compared to the Yankees' eight, the Blue Jays head into New York in a position to be the first team to advance to the championship series. 

Capped by great pitching, Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage stunned Yankees hitters with an electric fastball and devastating splitter, which led him to strike out 11 batters while allowing no hits and one walk in 5.1 innings. Yesavage only had three major league starts before Sunday’s playoff start. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the Blue Jays offense to 13 runs against the Yankees 

Yesavage wasn't the only Blue Jays player to have fun against the Yankees, with their lineup continuing to demolish their pitching. Led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is 6-9 (.666 batting average), with two home runs and six RBI. Of Guerrero's two home runs, one was a grand slam, which came in the fourth inning off Yankees right-hander Will Warren, who left a fastball out over the plate, which Guerrero didn't miss.

Daulton Varsho also added his name to the win against the Yankees, having four hits of his own, two of which were home runs, and driving in four RBI and scoring four runs. All four of Varsho’s hits were extra-base hits, and Varsho is batting .750 (6-8) in the series. 

George Springer and Ernie Clement also contributed four RBI to the offense, with Springer having a solo home run, while Clement drove in three RBI, with a two-run home run off Max Fried in the second inning to start the scoring for the Blue Jays. 

The Blue Jays can sweep the Yankees in New York 

The Blue Jays will have a chance to complete a sweep of the Yankees when they play Game 3 on Tuesday, with the Yankees likely to send left-hander Carlos Rodón to the mound to keep their postseason hopes alive. 

With the Blue Jays having a day to give their bullpen a rest and a day to reset, the Yankees will need to muster everything they have to stave off elimination, as Aaron Judge is doing what he can to counter the narrative against him in the postseason, going 4-7 (.571 batting average), with two walks and two strikeouts, while driving in two of the Yankees' eight runs. 

Zachary Cariola

My name is Zachary Cariola and I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. My areas of expertise are MLB, NBA, and NFL. You can find my other work on Southside Showdown from FanSided and at Chicitysports where I cover all Chicago sports. When not watching sports, I love spending time with my family and learning history. 

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