MLB News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Yankees' ugly ALDS Game 1 loss brought back bad narratives

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) and center fielder Trent Grisham (12) talk to home plate umpire Chris Segal in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game one of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Yankees' ugly ALDS Game 1 loss brought back all of the bad narratives

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Oct 4, 2025 8:18 PM ET

Even after winning 94 games and just playing in the World Series a year ago, the New York Yankees still had some pretty big flaws and concerns going into the 2025 postseason. Their best player, Aaron Judge, needed to show he could dominate in the playoffs as much as he does in the regular season, and they needed to be able to trust their bullpen and pitching staff.

They can not be feeling very good about any of those narratives following an ugly 10-1 Game 1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS on Saturday.

The Yankees' big bats went quiet again

Thanks to some clutch pitching performances in the wild-card round, the Yankees were able to get through the Boston Red Sox by coming back to win Games 2 and 3. But it was still a mostly quiet showing from some of their best hitters, including Judge.

While Judge has collected at least two hits in all three playoff games this postseason, he has yet to deliver an extra-base hit. And even worse, he came up small in one of the most pivotal moments of Game 1 on Saturday.

With the Yankees trailing, 2-0, Judge came to bat at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out. Not only did he fail to drive in a run, but he also struck out swinging at a potential ball four well out of the strike zone. It was not even a good swing.

Kevin Gausman strikes out Aaron Judge with the bases loaded and no outs! pic.twitter.com/bcNooa0IcD
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 4, 2025

Judge's career playoff numbers are only a fraction of what he has done during the regular season, and until he changes that narrative, it's going to diminish his place in Yankees history.

The Yankees need more from him in these moments.

But it wasn't just him who struggled at the plate on Saturday.

The Yankees' top-five hitters were a combined 2-for-18 on Saturday. That is not good enough. Especially not on a day where Toronto's best hitters shone.

Yankees bullpen let the game get away from them

It was not the most pressing issue on Saturday, but it certainly didn't help.

The Yankees' bullpen was such a question mark all season that they had to invest heavily at the trade deadline in an effort to fix it. That bullpen on Saturday turned a close game in the seventh inning into a rout.

In total, the Yankees' bullpen allowed eight runs in its 5.1 innings of work, with all of them coming in the seventh and eighth innings to put the game out of reach.

It's still only one game. But in a five-game series, you do not get many opportunities to make up for a bad game. The Yankees need a big response on Sunday, and especially from their biggest stars. If they do not get that, it could be another frustrating end to the season and an even longer offseason.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

More must-reads: