Yankees stunned as championship aspirations dashed in ALDS

NEW YORK — Late Wednesday and early Thursday, as club attendees assembled boxes for players to pack and everyone said goodbye to winter, a sense of disbelief hung over the New York Yankees.

From manager Aaron Boone to superstar Aaron Judge, the Yankees believed this team was more talented, more complete, better equipped to handle the month of October than the club that went to the World Series a year ago.

But the 2025 Yankees won’t reach the World Series. They won’t even make it to the American League Championship Series. Their season ended Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium, extending their championship drought to a 16th season, the third longest in franchise history.

“It’s hard to describe,” Judge said. “We didn’t do our job, we didn’t score the goal. We had a special group here, a lot of special players that made this year fun, but we didn’t get the ultimate prize, so we failed.”

The team that was standing in the way of the AL East title was standing in the Yankees’ way to the championship series. Toronto went 8-5 against the Yankees during the regular season to win the tiebreaker that proved to be the difference in securing a bye in the wild-card round when the teams finished with identical AL-best records 94-68.

But as ugly as the first two games of the series were for the Yankees — Toronto outscored them 23-8 in blowouts at Rogers Center — they reported working Wednesday with a confident group, riding high after Judge, blistering at the plate in these postseasons, delivered a monumental three-run homer in Game 3 that helped extend their season.

On paper, they had the pitching advantage: rookie Cam Schlittler, coming off a historic eight-inning performance in the wild-card series, facing a slew of familiar relievers in the division rivals’ 21st meeting of the year. Win, and the pressure would shift to the Blue Jays to avoid a collapse in Game 5 at home.

Schlittler didn’t look like the dominant force that held the Boston Red Sox scoreless in a playoff game the previous week, but he pitched well enough to give New York a chance to avoid elimination. However, the Yankees missed the opportunity, managing only two runs on six hits. They stranded two runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings and left the bases loaded in the eighth.

“It’s brutal,” said Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who finished the Series 1-for-15 with 10 strikeouts. “I’m a little in shock.”

The Blue Jays collected 12 more hits to finish with 50 in the series and topped New York 34-19 to reach the ALCS for the first time since 2016. The 34 runs were the fourth most scored in a team’s first four playoff games. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the way, going 9 for 17 with three homers and nine RBIs, to counter Judge, who went 13 for 26 in the postseason to become the sixth player all time to hit at least .500 in a single postseason.

The difference was in the supporting roles. Toronto utilityman Ernie Clement recorded three consecutive multi-hit games to finish 9 of 14 in the series. Center fielder Daulton Varsho was 7 for 16. Catcher Alejandro Kirk hit two home runs. In Game 4, Addison Barger recorded three hits. Nathan Lukes added two, including a backbreaking two-run single to increase Toronto’s lead to 4-1 in the seventh inning. And Myles Straw came off the bench to drive in the final run with a single in the eighth. As a team, the Blue Jays hit .338 with a .974 OPS in the series.

“They didn’t miss and they scored, it felt like every time they had a guy in scoring position,” Yankees catcher Austin Wells said. “They did everything they could to put the ball in play. And they were ready. They were on it from the first at-bat. It was impressive.”

Boone said, “They brought it to us this series.”

For the final month of the regular season, as his club got back into shape and the wins piled up, Boone didn’t hesitate to share that he thought this year’s club was the most talented in his eight seasons on the top step. He possessed power, speed, improved defense, a solid rotation and a bullpen featuring several proven veterans. He envisioned a path to the World Series. He wasn’t the only one.

“We all thought we were the team that would win the World Series,” Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “But baseball is baseball. We all know baseball can turn any way at any time. Baseball doesn’t favor anyone.”