With the Yankees' season on the line, Aaron Judge met the moment

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Oct 8, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — As Aaron Judge braced for an 0-2 pitch, Yankee Stadium roared in unison.

“MVP! MVP! MVP!” the crowd bellowed, desperate for the New York Yankees’ captain to deliver a signature postseason moment.

Judge, whose prior postseason struggles have been well-documented, rose to the occasion, turning on a 99.7-mph, inside fastball from Toronto Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland. With two runners on, one out and the Yankees down — 2-0 in the ALDS and 6-3 in the fourth inning of a do-or-die Game 3 — Judge could only watch and wait as his lumber sent a towering fly-ball deep into the Bronx night.

He had the distance. That much was clear off the bat.

But would the ball stay fair?

The left-field foul pole left no doubt, impeding the game-tying homer’s trajectory. With a clank toward the upper half of the pole, Yankee Stadium exploded as the ball dropped to the field and Judge’s legend soared.

Meanwhile, Jazz Chisholm Jr. slapped the dugout railing in excitement. Cody Bellinger strolled by, his arms extended in the air. Carlos Rodón embraced Clarke Schmidt with a celebratory bear hug.

Then there was Judge. Typically calm and collected, he gestured repeatedly at the Yankees’ bench, knowing full well he had just done his part to keep their season alive.

With Chisholm adding a go-ahead homer off Varland in the fifth and a few insurance runs following, the Yankees went on to win, 9-6. But it was Judge who swung the game’s momentum with his club staring down the barrel of elimination.

Judge didn’t stop making his mark on Game 3 with his home run, either, as he laid out for an Anthony Santander liner with a man on second in the fifth. With the game still tied at the time, the Yankees’ right fielder saved a run.

Judge also scored another in the sixth inning, crossing the plate after Ben Rice drove a sacrifice fly to right field. Judge reached via an intentional walk, Blue Jays manager John Schneider’s go-to approach for the feared slugger.

Alas, Toronto could not implement that strategy for Judge’s home run at-bat, as a free pass would have brought the go-ahead run to the plate.

Instead, Judge dealt a blow that made up for his shortcomings in Game 1 of the series, when he struck out chasing a Kevin Gausman splitter with the bases loaded, nobody out and the Yankees down two in the sixth.

It’s been an otherwise impressive postseason for No. 99, as Judge is now hitting .500 with a 1.304 OPS after going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and four RBI — he also had an RBI double in the third — on Tuesday.

While dinged for his lack of power — his Game 3 home run was his first of the postseason — Judge’s ongoing October performance has certainly risen above his past ones.

He entered these playoffs a career .205 postseason hitter. He had been even worse over his last four postseasons, hitting .160 with a .648 OPS despite having eight homers over 31 games.

But on Tuesday, Judge, contending for his third MVP Award, reminded the baseball world just how deadly he is no matter the month. A few more reminders may just help the Yankees climb out of their ALDS hole.

At the very least, the Yankees survived another day thanks to Judge.

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