Blue Jays eliminate Yankees for first ALCS berth since 2016

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It was more than four hours before the first pitch in what, let’s face it, loomed as the most important series in the career of Blue Jays manager John Schneider and many of his players.

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Post-season failure had dogged them all, hitting hard twice, spectacular defeats that stung and created such fallout that they were followed by a miserable last-place campaign a year ago.

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But out of those defeats came a fresh attitude and determination that, after an immensely gratifying elimination of the New York Yankees in the ALDS on Wednesday night in the Bronx, has these plucky Jays four wins away from a World Series berth.

“I think that being scrutinized enough over the course of a couple post-seasons, you live with it and you’re good with it,” Schneider was saying back at the Rogers Centre. “I’m just more comfortable with it. Just being ultra-prepared, make a decision, live with it and move on.”

Move on indeed.

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After a meticulously planned and executed bullpen day strategy unfurled on enemy territory, the Jays swatted aside the Yankees 5-2 to take the best-of-five ALDS 3-1.

And now it’s off to the ALCS for just the eighth time in franchise history, the next step in this  incredible and compelling ride, that so far has seen a resounding last-to-first triumph for Schneider and his team. In the wake of  such gutting and demoralizing playoff defeats in 2022 and 2023, Wednesday’s win right there at Yankee Stadium, was an immense point of pride for all involved.

It was transfixing how the clincher unfolded, a night after the Jays had squandered a 6-1 lead and opportunity for a sweep of the Yankees.

It was a bullpen day in every regard given that Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker — inseparable in the visitors’ dugout throughout — employed eight arms to keep Yankees hitters guessing, none of them going longer than 1.2 innings.

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Louis Varland, the hard-throwing righty who had surrendered the debilitating three-run homer to Yankees star Aaron Judge the previous night, started it with 1.1 innings of work.

Closer Jeff Hoffman got the final four outs to ended and the players spilled onto the Yankee Stadium infield for their third champagne celebration of the past few weeks.

This scenario was scripted from the time Schneider submitted his ALDS roster last Saturday, a list with notable absences of Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt that left only three starters.

Game 4, if the series went that far, was then meant to be an all-in, win-it-together proposition for a team that has had so many contributors all season long.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Schneider said prior to Game 1. “It’s strategically trying to do what you think is best to win three out of five games.”

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There’s a difference between meticulous planning and over-thinking things. As complicated as the machinations were on Wednesday, it was evidence of all the tremendous growth from Schneider and his players, a massive moment for a franchise riding a tidal wave of momentum.

“You learn from the good and the bad, from the disappointing playoff outcomes thus far,” Schneider said prior to the series. “And like anything, the more you do it, the the easier it gets and the slower it gets.

“I’ve got a lot of trust in this group. Not that I didn’t in ’22 or ’23 but this group is wired a little bit differently.”

And that tight-knit group headed to the championship series as the hottest team in the American League.

Some takeaways from Wednesday’s franshise-transforming win:

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‘TEAM GAME’

Schneider preferred to refer to Wednesday’s contest as a “team game” rather than a “bullpen game,” an emphasis on the messaging that has driven this team all season.

A tight game didn’t have much happening offensively as the Jays managed just two runs off of young ace Yankees starter, Cam Schlittler, who scattered eight hits over 6.1 superb innings.

But once the 24-year-old phenom exited, after Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. turned a routine double play into an error, the Jays were ready to pounce. That came from Nathan Lukes, one of those unheralded players who have been such a big part of the season. Lukes slapped a two- RBI single to extend the Jays’ lead to 4-1.

Fitting also, that the sizzling Vlad Guerrero Jr. got things started with an RBI single in the first.

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BULL’S EYE

Our anatomy of the bullpen day in which no pitcher went longer than 1.2 innings.

It started with Varland (1.1 innings) and in order went to rookie Mason Fluharty (one inning), Seranthany Dominguez (1.2 innings) Eric Lauer (1.2 innings), Yariel Rodriguez (a third of an inning), Brendon Little (one inning). That group allowed just one run on three hits through seven innings.

But there was more to come. Braydon Fisher (0.2 innings) and closer Hoffman with the final 1.1 innings. Combined, they held the best-hitting team in baseball to just six hits and two runs, a Ryan McMahon homer off Fluharty in the third and an RBI single from Judge in the ninth.

The game was not without some tense moments, as the Yankees had their chances. But with the matchups changing, they could never do damage.

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The last of the big worries came in the eighth as the Yankees loaded the bases bringing Austin Wells to the plate as the tying run. Deep breaths all around as the New York catcher flew out harmlessly to right field.

WHAT’S NEXT

Despite the tense times in the Bronx, the Jays reap the rewards as the top seed, earning some extra time off before opening the ALCS at home with games on Sunday and Monday.

The bonus? They’ll play the winner of the Detroit-Seattle series, which is going the distance with a Game 5 in the Pacific Northwest on Friday. Whoever prevails will be weary and have a long travel day before arriving in Toronto.

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