The Yankees’ run of wins in elimination games came to an end Wednesday night and so did their season. They dropped Game 4 of the ALDS to the Blue Jays, 5-2, at Yankee Stadium.
Toronto won the best-of-five series, three games to one, and took the deciding tilt by throwing a bullpen game against Cam Schlittler. Schlittler, the Yankee youngster who was a revelation in his first postseason start last week against Boston, was good again, though not quite as good as he was against the Red Sox. But it wasn’t enough.
The Yankees were outhit, 12-6, and missed on several late chances. Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a key error in the seventh inning that led to two crucial insurance runs. In the series, the Jays outscored the Yankees, 34-19.
Before Wednesday, the Yanks had won three consecutive elimination games this October.
The Jays now head to the ALCS while the Yankees head into the winter wondering what might have been. And what might happen now.
Here are the main takeaways...
-- The Jays scored in the first inning of every game of the series and took a 1-0 lead in this one on an RBI single by Vlad Guerrero Jr. Guerrero knocked in George Springer, who had led off the game with a double off Schlittler. Addison Barger followed with a single and the inning couldn’t become worse trouble, but Schlittler rebounded with help from Cody Bellinger. First, Schlittler retired Alejandro Kirk on a foul pop and then Bellinger raced over to catch a bloop by Daulton Varsho down the left-field line, sliding to make the grab.
-- In the second inning, Anthony Volpe made a terrific running catch, one so good it might make some Yankee fans forget his defensive woes earlier in the season. With his back to the plate, he sprinted into left field to snare a flare, catching it over-the-shoulder style. A few fans chanted Volep’s name in appreciation, though he also got booed later after striking out for the third time in the game. Volpe was 5-for-26 with 16 strikeouts this postseason.
-- Ryan McMahon connected for his first career postseason home run in the third inning, knotting the score at 1 after a terrific at-bat. McMahon, who hit 20 home runs during the regular season (16 for the Rockies, four for the Yanks), fell behind 0-2 against lefty Mason Fluharty, but worked the count full. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he swatted a sweeper on the outside corner over the right-field wall. The Stadium crowd, a tad sleepy early, got back into the game after the home run.
-- Schlittler retired eight straight hitters before Barger led off the fourth with a double. But then he got three consecutive outs, stranding Barger at third. In the fifth, the Blue Jays got consecutive singles to start the inning from Ernie Clement, who came into the game batting .636 in the series, and Andrés Giménez to put runners on first and third.
Springer hit a sac fly to give Toronto a 2-1 lead, but Schlittler got the next two outs, including catching Guerrero looking at a 3-2 sinker on the outside corner, to end the frame. His whiff of Guerrero was just his second strikeout of the game, sort of illustrating the different way he got outs against the Blue Jays after striking out 12 in eight scoreless innings against Boston in the Wild Card series.
-- Schlittler started the sixth with 67 pitches and got through the inning with only 10 more, which perhaps put him in line to at least start the seventh. He threw 107 against Boston, his season high, in his last start. Barger started the sixth with a 47.2-mph squibber down the third-base line that went for an infield single because McMahon was positioned way toward second base.
Aaron Boone went to the mound and some fans booed, thinking the manager was going to yank the pitcher, but Boone spoke for a few moments and then headed back to the dugout. The crowd cheered then. Schlittler coaxed a double-play grounder out of Varsho to end the inning and the righty then got to start the seventh inning, too.
-- The Yankees had cleaned up some of their defensive issues over the last few months of the season, but an error by Chisholm hurt them in the seventh inning. The first out of the inning came on a remarkable catch of a foul pop by McMahon, who appeared to slip while pursuing the ball, but reached for it and caught it anyway.
Then, after another single by Clement, Giménez hit a grounder to Chisholm that could have turned into an inning-ending double play. But Chisholm couldn’t handle the bouncer and the Jays had runners at first and third. That ended Schlittler’s night. Devin Williams came in and struck out Springer, though Giménez stole second on the play. And then Nathan Lukes stroked a two-run single to increase Toronto’s lead to 4-1.
-- Schlittler was charged with two unearned runs in the seventh, so his final line was 6.1 innings, four runs (two earned) and eight hits. He struck out two and walked none, throwing 88 pitches, 69 for strikes. It was another impressive outing for the rookie, who, through two postseason starts, had a 1.26 ERA over 14.1 innings. He did not walk a single batter.
-- The Yanks left two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings and stranded the bases loaded in the eighth. The Jays intentionally walked Judge with one out in the sixth and, one out after that, Giancarlo Stanton worked a walk. But Chisholm grounded out. In the seventh, Paul Goldschmidt drew a leadoff walk and pinch-hitter Amed Rosario hit a two-out single. But Trent Grisham popped out to end the threat.
With two out in the eighth, Stanton singled and Chisholm and pinch-hitter Ben Rice walked. But Austin Wells flew out against Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. Overall, the Yankees were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
-- The Jays piled on an additional run in the eighth when Kirk led off with a double and scored on a single to right by defensive replacement Myles Straw for a 5-1 lead.
-- Judge went 2-for-4 in Game 4 with two singles, an RBI and an intentional walk. He finished his playoff run with some gaudy numbers, going 13-for-26 (.500) with seven RBI in seven games.
Game MVP: Toronto's bullpen
Seven relievers allowed two runs over 7.2 innings. You can extrapolate it to two runs over nine innings if you want to include reliever Louis Varland, who started as an opener and got the first four outs.
Highlights
