For years Yankees fans have waited and wondered when Aaron Judge would have his signature moment in the playoffs.
Well, with New York's proverbial backs to the wall on Tuesday night, Judge lifted his team to new heights when he crushed a three-run homer, as the ball caromed off the left field foul pole, tying the game at six in the fourth inning. It was all part of a humongous comeback as the Yankees scored eight unanswered runs in a 9-6 thriller over the Blue Jays at the Stadium.
Toronto's lead in now sliced in half at 2-1.
"I guess a couple ghosts out there in Monument Park helped kind of keep that fair," Judge joked afterwards.
Perhaps it was the ghosts, because the Yankees Game 3 comeback felt erriely similar to Yankees heroics of the past. Think Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series when the Yankees got off the decks to stun the Arizona Diamondbacks, who looked poised to clinch a world championship in the Bronx.
Or, of course, Aaron Boone's walk-off homer vs. Boston in the 2003 ALCS.
The Blue Jays looked poised to sweep this series after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a two-run homer to left that gave Toronto a 2-0 lead off Yankees starter Carlos Rodon.
Rodon didn't last long, allowing six runs in 2.1 innings of work. Four of those runs came in the third inning with Guerrero's hard slid into home plate on Ernie Clement's base hit providing an exclamation point.
Anthony Santandar's two-run single that he pushed through the hole between first and second, gave the Jays a seemingly insurmountable 6-1 lead.
You could hear the air come out of the Stadium. Fans were ready to harpoon Boone; harpoon Jazz Chisholm who was seen yawning while in the field, and ready to harpoon anyone who couldn't live up to Yankees standards as New York was swept away.
But, the guys down the first base dugout had another idea.
The Yankees chipped away. Judge lined a double off the facing of the left field wall, scoring Trent Grishom to make it 6-2. Judge would later score on a sac fly by Giancarlo Stanton to cut the Toronto lead in half.
That all set the stage for Judge to send Yankees fans into a tizzy they haven't felt in years. When the ball left Judge's bat it was only a question of fair or foul. When it smacked the pole the stadium exploded.
Tied game! 6-6 in the 4th.
The homer woke up the Yankees. Chisholm, who was seen yawning earlier, launched a solo shot of his own into the bleachers in right to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning. Finally Austin Wells plated Amed Rosario with a single to right in that same fifth inning to make it 8-6 Yankees.
The Jays looked defeated and ready to move on to Game 4 at this point. They were swinging just to get back to the hotel at this point.
Maybe they shouldn't have been so cavalier, because the Yankees are sending AL Wild Card hero, Cam Schlittler to the hill tonight for Game 4. If the Yankees win, the series heads back to Toronto on Friday night.
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