Yankees' Season Comes To Bitter End With Lifeless ALDS Game 4 Dud
Andrew Battifarano, Post
Another fall of discontent has arrived.
The Yankees have gotten there in many different ways over the past 16 years, but the all-too-familiar end result came crashing in with a thud on Wednesday night in The Bronx.
A thrilling comeback in Game 3 . . . only delayed the crushing disappointment that came with Game 4.
The offense . . . went silent at the worst time, the Yankees mustering just six hits against a parade of relievers in a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays in front of a restless sellout crowd . . .
[T]he Yankees are going home after the ALDS, with the Blue Jays winning the series 3-1 . . .
At the beginning of the postseason, Aaron Boone said that he felt as good about this team as any he had managed in his eight years at the helm. And yet . . . these Yankees ended the same as each of the last 15 iterations: coming up short. . . .
[T]he Yankees spent Wednesday searching for the big hit – or any hits, really. . . .
The Yankees stranded eight runners over the final four innings, only adding to the pain as they watched the game and their season slip through their fingers in slow motion.
Cam Schlittler . . . pitch[ed] into the seventh inning with a 2-1 deficit. He generated what should have been an inning-ending double play, but Andrés Gimenez's grounder shot off Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s glove and sailed into center field, putting runners on the corners.
Nathan Lukes made the Yankees pay, lining a two-run single off Devin Williams that gave the Blue Jays some breathing room at 4-1.
After Chisholm had stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the sixth, Trent Grisham had another chance to get the Yankees back in it in the seventh with two on and two out. But Grisham . . . capped off a rough postseason (4-for-29) by popping out in foul territory.
The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the eighth . . . further quieting a crowd that was starting to come to grips with reality.
The Yankees offered one last gasp in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with two outs, only for Austin Wells to fly out against closer Jeff Hoffman.
The pesky Blue Jays lineup gave the Yankees pitching staff one more night of frustration in a series full of it. It had beat up on the Yankees' starters in the first three games, as Luis Gil, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón combined to last just eight innings while giving up 15 runs.
Schlittler . . . did what none of Gil, Fried or Rodón could do by recording an out in the fourth inning. . . .
Jazz Chisholm's Costly Error Pushes Yankees Season To The Edge
Justin Terranova, Post
Shoddy Yankees defense in an elimination game — we've seen this movie before.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. allowed the Blue Jays to break a 2-1 game open in the seventh inning on Wednesday night in The Bronx when the second baseman botched an inning-ending double play ball.
With one out and new Yankees killer Ernie Clement on first base, Andres Gimenez hit a one-hop bullet up the middle that deflected off Chisholm's glove and into center field.
The error ended Cam Schlittler's night . . . Devin Williams replaced the young righty, and after striking out leadoff man George Springer, Nathan Lukes lined a two-run single to left to increase Toronto's lead to 4-1.
On the Fox broadcast, analyst John Smoltz claimed the ball on Chisholm's miscue "exploded" off the edge of the grass, and that made the play more difficult for the second baseman.
The veteran was coming off an up-and-down Game 3 when he fell asleep on a relay throw, allowing a Blue Jays run to score . . .
The Yankees dealt with an offseason of criticism after several brutal defensive blunders allowed the Dodgers to rally in Game 5 of the World Series to end the 2024 season.
Yankees Doomed By Missed Opportunities As Season Ends With ALDS Game 4 Loss To Blue Jays
Peter Sblendorio, Daily News
For the Yankees, the scene was all too familiar.
For the second year in a row, opponents spilled out of the visitors' dugout and mobbed each other on the Yankee Stadium grass.
Last year, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers who clinched their World Series title in the Bronx.
On Wednesday night, it was the Toronto Blue Jays doing the celebrating after defeating the Yankees in Game 4 of the ALDS.
But for the Yankees, the result was ultimately the same. . . .
"You don't like seeing somebody celebrate on your field," Aaron Judge said . . .
The Blue Jays — the Yankees' Achilles heal all season — proved again to be the superior team by winning the ALDS, 3-1.
Toronto outscored the Yankees, 34-19, over the four games, but Wednesday night's clincher was much more about missed opportunities by the Yankees . . .
The Blue Jays deployed a bullpen game, and the Yankees managed only six hits against eight Toronto relievers.
The Yankees stranded at least two baserunners in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the last of which ended when Austin Wells, who represented the tying run, flew out with the bases on the first pitch he saw . . .
The Yankees finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.
"We didn't execute when we needed to," Giancarlo Stanton said. . . .
Schlittler surrendered an RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning and a sacrifice fly to George Springer in the fifth, the latter of which gave Toronto the lead for good.
But the Blue Jays didn't pull away until the seventh inning, when Jazz Chisholm Jr. booted a one-hopper off the bat of Andres Gimenez. Had Chisholm come up with the ball, he could have turned an inning-ending double play.
Instead, the error put runners at the corners and ended Schlittler's night. Both runners would score on Nathan Lukes' two-out, two-run single against Devin Williams, which gave Toronto a 4-1 lead.
"I didn't think it was gonna play the way it played," Chisholm said. . . . "Can't get it out of my head . . ." . . .
Guerrero went 9-for-17 (.529) with three home runs, nine RBI and a 1.609 OPS in the ALDS, further cementing his status as a Yankee killer. . . .
"The ending's the worst, right?" manager Aaron Boone said.
Aaron Judge's Scorching Playoffs Ends Without A Last Best Chance To Save Yankees' Season
Dan Martin, Post
Aaron Judge . . . couldn't keep the Yankees alive.
And another historic season from the slugger ended without a World Series title. . . .
[H]e never got his best chance to alter the game on Wednesday, as with runners on first and second and two out and the Yankees down by three runs in the seventh, Trent Grisham continued a miserable postseason by popping out to shortstop Andrés Giménez, who made a terrific catch down the line in foul territory to end the inning and keep Judge in the on-deck circle.
By the time he came up again, the Yankees trailed by four as he led off the bottom of the eighth and struck out. . . .
[Judge singled twice] but too few of his teammates joined him in the finale, as the Yankees failed to get much going offensively — even with Toronto going with a bullpen game. . . .
[This] October exit . . . was no fault of Judge's and that hasn't always been the case, something that's been well chronicled since his October slump began in 2018.
The Ugly Truth That You Can't Ignore About These High-Priced Yankees
Jon Heyman, Post
The $320 million Yankees are an October failure once again. No other way to look at it . . .
This year they couldn't even survive a junior circuit without a juggernaut.
They were ushered out by a bargain Blue Jays bullpen. They pitched poorly the first two games of the ALDS, then didn't hit enough in an unsatisfying 5-2 defeat before a very sad, sold-out crowd . . .
So to summarize: They went out without a division title, then followed up with a losing record in the postseason . . .
The highest-priced AL team is too talented to be ushered out of the playoff derby in four mostly unsightly, unhappy division series games, too talented to fail to show up strong for their second round.
That's what they'll surely tell themselves . . .
No reason this series should have been a rout. But it was that. The Blue Jays outscored the Yankees 33-19. They split here at Yankee Stadium, but let's not forget the Jays decimated the Yankees two games Up North. . . .
This team should not have gone out like so many others, as a quick casualty. This team has big names. . . .
[T]hey didn't get it done when they had to. . . .
Judge hit a home run that will become part of Yankee lore [JoS: No, it won't.] . . .
Judge calls his teammates "the boys." Whatever you call them, collectively they didn't do enough.
As a team, they simply got outplayed and outclassed. . . .
Better to begin thinking about what they can make of themselves next year.
Next year. That's supposed to be the rallying cry of a perennial also-ran . . .
Yet, this is where they are. They are in the very spot they've been 15 of the past 16 years, out way too soon. [JoS: I gotta tell ya, Jon, that sounds like "a perennial also-ran".]
They didn't hit like they can. And they didn't pitch like any playoff team should. . . .
Folks were figuring this was a toss-up. Then they started playing.
The $218M ace Max Fried didn't get an out in the fourth inning in Game 2. And he lasted longer than Luis Gil the game before. And longer than Carlos Rodón did in Game 3 on Tuesday.
Together the three of them didn't even combine for a complete nine innings. That's the saddest stat of the sorry week.
The Yankees didn't hit enough either, at least not when it counted. . . .
Next year should work out better, really it should.
Yankees Are Stuck In An Endless Loop — And It's Getting Harder To Believe They'll Ever Figure It Out
Joel Sherman, Post
These days, the only thing around the Yankees that has a ring to it is the familiarity of falling short this time of year.
The Yankees are now through a 16th straight season without a title. . . .
[T]heir season concluded with another team triumphantly celebrating on The Bronx grass.
The Yankees once more are in their endless loop, trying to convince themselves and others that they really have the ingredients to be a champion as the title drought drives on. And as it becomes a little harder each year to believe that it is in them . . .
"It's the worst conversation to have," Giancarlo Stanton said of the annual explanation of why the Yankees have fallen short. . . .
The Yankees were eliminated Wednesday night in division series Game 4. The Blue Jays won behind their offensive style — relentlessly putting the ball in play . . . The Yankees lost without delivering enough of what they do best — putting the ball over a fence. . . .
An overmatched Anthony Volpe, a regressed Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. combined for nine hits in this series — or the same number as the pesky Ernie Clement, who symbolizes Toronto's tenaciousness mode. The Blue Jays force you to keep playing the ball, which the Yankees did remarkably well — until they didn't. Until Chisholm made a seventh-inning error . . . two unearned runs . . . score[d] and the door to a cold Yankees winter was again being walked through. . . .
[T]here is a familiarity to it now for the Yankees. . . .
Judge's dramatic Game 3 three-run homer [became] a feel-good pit stop for the Yankees rather than a series-changer. It helped provide just an extra 24 hours of life for the team . . . Chisholm said was coming into October to "step on necks." [They] lasted seven playoff games and won three of them. . . .
So we will get the familiar outcry that comes with this time of year — that the Yankees must fire Brian Cashman and Boone . . . [But] under this version of the House of Steinbrenner, that duo has the job security of Supreme Court justices. . . . [T]he Yankees did not lose this division series because of managing. . . .
Judge will be 34 in April . . . Stanton turns 36 next month. Gerrit Cole turned 35 last month . . . [T]he sands are beginning to run thin to change the mantra away from "Wait Till Next Year." . . .
Volpe looked as lost as ever, striking out in all three at-bats in Game 4 to make it 16 in 26 at-bats this postseason. . . .
The Yankees again figured out how to get to the biggest games. But again didn't win enough of them. . . .
For a 16th straight season, not good enough.
The Yankees Are Becoming Next Year's Team Far Too Often
Mike Vaccaro, Post
"Wait till next year!"
That's what the Yankees are right now. They are Next Year's team.
Cody Bellinger struck out at 10:31 p.m., and that slammed the trunk on the 2025 Yankees, meaning it's now 16 years without a World Series championship. . . .
Hal Steinbrenner might not express his anger the way his father did. But let his own words from earlier this year speak for the man: "If you think it doesn't make me sleepless-at-night furious when we fall short of our goals … let me put it this way: Tell me you don't know me without telling me you don't know me."
That's hollow consolation right now, as hollow as the 94 wins the Yankees piled up across the regular season . . .
[Aaron Judge:] "You didn't win. It's not what you want."
Said Aaron Boone: "The ending is the worst." . . .
What's going to rankle a lot of Yankees fans . . . and what ought to chafe Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Boone the most — is that for the second straight season they weren't just eliminated by a better team, but by a team that by its own fundamentally sound standards exposed those same deficiencies in the Yankees.
Last year it was the Dodgers . . . This time . . . it was the Blue Jays, a team it seemed the Yankees never quite believed was as good as its record . . . even as they seized control of this series before finally closing it out.
The Jays, 1 through 9, specialized in quality at-bats. . . . The Jays don't have the black hole in their lineup of Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells [and Ryan McMahon] . . .
The Jays run the bases better. They play defense better . . . They do everything better except hit home runs — and they did that pretty well, too . . . So the Jays have a date on Sunday against either the Mariners or the Tigers, four out of seven to win a pennant.
The Yankees?
The Yankees have next year. . . .
That's how it's been for Next Year's darlings, the Yankees, for 16 straight years, going on 17. And for who knows how many more?
SUPERVLAD LAUNCHING HIMSELF TOWARDS THE PLATE!
Vladimir Guerrero Channels David Ortiz To Mock Yankees In Beer-Soaked Blue Jays Celebration
Michael Blinn, Post
On the heels of their 5-2 win in Game 4 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium – advancing them to the American League Championship Series – Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero twisted the knife in a postgame interview from the clubhouse on Fox on Wednesday night.
"Daaaaaaa Yankees lose!" he said after being showered with beer in the raucous scene, channeling former Red Sox great David Ortiz.
That drew laughter from Ortiz, a noted Yankees hater, who didn't need much pleading to get Guerrero to repeat himself.
Yankees icons Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were less enthused on the FS1 panel.
If there is any Yankees pain that comes with the words, it's secondary to that inflicted by the first baseman in the four-game series.
He batted an absurd .529 in the series (9-for-17) with three home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.609 OPS to continue his longstanding torment of the Bronx Bombers.
Guerrero – who has held a decades-long grudge against the Yankees – wasn't alone in his trolling.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider implored his team to "Start spreading the news, bitches!" Before they blasted Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and then sprayed everyone and everything down in the visitors' locker room at the Stadium with champagne and beer.
Tormented By Toronto All Year, The Yankees' Season Comes To A Fitting And Disappointing End
Gary Phillips, Daily News
The Yankees . . . entered the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in baseball . . .
Then came those pesky Blue Jays in the ALDS.
Tormented by Toronto all year, the Yankees saw their season end with a Game 4 loss . . . after losing two laughers north of the border and delaying elimination with a win on Tuesday. . . .
[In] the Yankees' clubhouse, Boone called it a "beat-up room" . . . By the time reporters entered the space, cardboard boxes and half-packed suitcases sat in front of nearly every locker. The screech of packing tape and metallic zippers replaced the voice of George Benson, whose 1980 hit, "Give Me The Night," has become a staple of the Yankees' post-win playlist.
Then there were players, whose comments were loaded with sorrow after yet another season ended without a title. . . .
Giancarlo Stanton, who hit an uncharacteristic .192 this postseason . . . "The frustration adds each year and each time we gotta come up and do this."
Anthony Volpe, mostly at a loss for words after striking out 13 times in four ALDS games, kept calling the Yankees' early exit "brutal." Max Fried . . . regretted that he wouldn't have a chance to redeem himself for his Game 2 clunker. . . .
Unable to overcome their latest bout with adversity — the Bombers left the bases loaded in the eighth and totaled 10 stranded runners — the Yankees could only watch in distress as their division rivals celebrated on their home turf. It felt somewhat fitting, their season snuffed out by Toronto as the untidy play that plagued the team all summer reared its ugly head. . . .
With their postseason now over, the Yankees went 6-11 against the Jays overall. That includes losing 8-of-9 games at the Rogers Centre . . . Toronto exploded for a record-setting 23 runs there between Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS. . . .
The Yankees, meanwhile, came up short in their attempts to avenge last year's World Series loss, a messy showing that had the bottom of the Dodgers' victorious roster mocking them all offseason. Fresh off another letdown, the Yankees are left to contemplate the future . . .
[T]ime is of the essence.
Judge . . . only has so many prime years left . . . Stanton and Gerrit Cole, who didn't throw a pitch this year thanks to Tommy John surgery, aren't getting any younger, either. Both are 35 . . .
Clarke Schmidt will also miss time in 2026 after his own Tommy John procedure . . .
The bullpen will be a major offseason project, as the unit routinely struggled from start to finish this season. . . .
[J]ust how many of those players will the Yankees want back . . .?
At first glance, the response may be "not many" . . .
