TORONTO — The Rogers Centre crowd exploded in the first inning. After three playoff sweeps and six postseason losses, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave his home fans an October moment to cheer. The star first baseman launched a towering fly ball to left field on Saturday, stealing the Toronto Blue Jays an early lead with a solo home run. The crowd-popping moments kept coming as Toronto added nine more runs and the New York Yankees’ offense fell largely quiet. With the 10-1 victory over their division rival in the American League Division Series, the Jays earned their first postseason win in nine years and took a 1-0 series lead.
Vlad Jr. delivers first postseason moment
The building paused as everyone watched with curiosity. Guerrero took two steps out of the box, still holding his bat as he stared at the ball heading to left field. Would it clear the wall? The stadium erupted, answering the question as the ball bounced in Toronto’s home bullpen for an early lead.
VLADDY GETS ROGERS CENTRE ROCKING WITH A HOMER IN THE FIRST pic.twitter.com/J8o9EYEM8F
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 4, 2025
Guerrero played six playoff games before Saturday and was swept in three Wild Card Series. He entered Saturday’s Game 1 with a .136 average in the postseason. He owned just one playoff extra-base hit.
In three tries, he’d yet to deliver a playoff moment. The only thing Guerrero learned from those prior postseasons, he said, was losses.
But just six pitches into his 2025 postseason, Guerrero arrived in October, at last.
His first-inning blast sent Toronto’s home fans into early mayhem. Without Bo Bichette in this series, Guerrero is the spotlighted bat in the middle of Toronto’s lineup. He notched his first playoff long ball and first multi-hit postseason game to start the Division Series.
Jays targeted velo at deadline. It saved them in Game 1
Louis Varland bounced off the mound with swagger as Giancarlo Stanton slashed through his final pitch. The right-handed reliever, acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline, blew 101 mph past the Yankees slugger to preserve Toronto’s slim lead.
The bases were loaded. One connecting swing could have flipped the game in a second. Instead, Varland won the battle with his second-hardest pitch of the season. The Jays specifically sought velocity at the trade deadline, acquiring Varland and Seranthony Domínguez to bolster the bullpen.
“You want to have as many different looks as you can,” manager John Schneider said at the deadline. “And you want to have swing-and-miss stuff.”
In Game 1, those deadline priorities paid off. Varland stranded the bases loaded and combined with Domínguez for 1 1/3 shutout innings before Toronto expanded its lead.
As Varland floated back to Toronto’s dugout in the sixth, Kevin Gausman stared out from the back of the bench, a towel draped over his shoulders. It was Gausman’s runs that the reliever had stranded on base. Varland’s blistering pitch sealed the book on Gausman’s playoff start — 5 2/3 innings, one earned run. If this series goes the distance, returning to Toronto for a decisive Game 5, Gausman will most likely be back on the mound once more.
Judge comes up small
Aaron Judge walks back to the dugout after striking out in the sixth inning. (Mark Blinch / Getty Images)
Aaron Judge. Bases loaded. Sixth inning. No outs. Sounds good for the Yankees, right?
Well, Judge didn’t get it done in the playoffs again. He struck out despite having Gausman in a full count. He chased a splitter low and away, flailing at it like he was shooing away a bug with a rolled-up newspaper. Judge had a chance to blow it open or erase a 2-0 Toronto lead. He’s still searching for his big playoff moment after hitting four singles in the Wild Card Series.
Cody Bellinger ended up walking in the next at-bat, scoring Anthony Volpe, who started the inning with a double off the left-field wall. Then Ben Rice popped out to third and Varland came in for Gausman, striking out Stanton swinging to end the threat.
Yankees’ bullpen blasted
Luke Weaver entered the seventh with the Yankees trailing 2-1 and immediately gave up a walk to Daulton Varsho, a single to Anthony Santander and a single to Andrés Giménez.
Boone pulled Weaver for Fernando Cruz, and he got rocked, too. After a quick out, Cruz walked George Springer to load the bases, then Nathan Lukes hammered a double to right field to score two runs. And after falling behind 3-0 to Guerrero, instead of issuing a free pass, Cruz pitched to him and allowed a sacrifice fly to center, stretching the Jays’ lead to 6-1. Last-guy-in-the-bullpen Paul Blackburn then took over for Cruz and got the last out of the inning, but the damage was done.
Then Blackburn gave up four runs in the eighth, when the game was out of hand. The 10-1 rout was the Yankees’ first time allowing 10-plus runs in a postseason game since Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS versus the Boston Red Sox.
Weaver has faced six total batters in two playoff appearances, the first coming in Game 1 of the wild-card round. Incredibly, he hasn’t gotten any of them out.
The Yankees’ biggest question going into the playoffs was their bullpen. It might be what gets them bounced.
Early exit for Gil
It seemed like a curious decision to have Gil start Game 1, and it backfired on Boone. Luis Gil gave up a solo shot to Guerrero with two outs in the first inning and a leadoff homer to Alejandro Kirk in the second. The Yankees pulled Gil after Guerrero singled off him with two outs in the third inning, opting for lefty Tim Hill and beginning their bullpen procession.
The Yankees’ other option to start would have been Will Warren, but the Blue Jays bashed the rookie righty in his only start against them this season. Maybe the Yankees thought they had an element of surprise over the Blue Jays. Or maybe they thought Gil could turn back into the pitcher he was last season, when he won the American League Rookie of the Year award.
He didn’t.
In Gil’s first career playoff start last year, his fastball averaged 96.2 mph and it touched 98.3 mph. On Saturday, his heater was down, averaging 95.8 mph and topping at 97.2.
Kirk’s power surge continues
Kirk had a .164 average and .499 OPS in the first 19 games of September. The long season and a career high in games behind the plate wore on him. It wasn’t easy, he said. But when the Jays needed him most, he’s delivered again.
The backstop connected for three homers in his final two regular-season games, including a crucial grand slam to ensure Toronto’s AL East title on the final day. That power surge carried into October, with Kirk homering twice in Toronto’s Game 1 win.
KIRK IS ON ANOTHER PLANET RIGHT NOW! pic.twitter.com/T6WwaZmTOj
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 4, 2025
(Top photo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger: Mark Blinch / Getty Images)
