Blue Jays strike first in blowout of Yankees in Game 1

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It has become a date on the calendar to define Toronto Blue Jays baseball, good and bad.

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There was Oct. 4, 2016, the day Edwin Encarnacion rocked a three-run homer in the 11th inning of an AL wildcard game to send the Jays to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

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Then there was Oct. 4, 2023, a defining game for the wrong reasons, a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins that sent the team spiralling downwards.

And now this: Oct. 4, 2025 in what had all the feel of a monumental breakthrough moment in the current era of Blue Jays baseball, a thorough and dominating 10-1 thrashing of their division rival New York Yankees.

Though it was a complete win in so many ways, let’s also call it the official playoff coming out party of the richest player in franchise history, Vlad Guerrero Jr..

It was the moment Blue Jays fans have been waiting for since the Montreal-born, Dominican-raised superstar signed that $500 million US contract in April.

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And boy did his first-inning home run on a brilliant early autumn day before a roaring sellout crowd of 44,655 at the Rogers Centre bring the house down.

The towering blast that easily cleared the wall in left field was the first post-season home run of his career and a significant tone setter for a hungry Jays team looking to validate their terrific first-place regular season. And best yet — in the now it allowed them to get the early upper hand in the opener of the best-of-five ALDS.

Guerrero has long said he lives for these moments, wanted them bad. The Jays were 0-for-6 in his three previous playoff appearances and all along he’s been craving the opportunity to have an impact in October.

So there it was, a breakthrough afternoon and early evening for a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and loves everything about playing baseball here.

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That affection is reciprocated, for the most part, but Guerrero is beloved by more than the fans, as teammate George Springer shared rather eloquently prior to Saturday’s game.

“He’s an unbelievable human, a great player, a great teammate,” Springer said. “He does so much for us on and off the field. He’s a guy that does not take anything for granted. He genuinely loves being a Toronto Blue Jay, loves to be here.

“It’s hard not to respect a guy like that who wants to win so bad but doesn’t want to win for himself. He wants to win for other people.”

Our takeaways from a not-soon-to-be-forgotten afternoon at the downtown dome:

WHO SAW THIS COMING?

John Schneider did.

The Jays manager said he had a long chat with Guerrero earlier in the week and detected signs some good things were coming at the plate. The two discussed how he was feeling at the plate, the type of conversations the player and his long-time coach was having when Vlad was a teenager.

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“To hear him articulate what is right when he is right was really encouraging,” Schneider said prior to Game 1. “Watching him work the way he did was really encouraging. There’s very simple curse with him. I’ve seen him hit for 10 years so I gave him a little feedback with what I was seeing.

“I think he’s definitely in the right spot to go be him.”

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Central in their chats was Vlad’s ability to get the ball in the air like he is when he’s at his best. The towering shot to left field travelled 367 feet into the Jays bullpen with an exit velocity of 101.2 miles per hour.

Guerrero also had a pair of singles on the day plus a sac fly RBI, a statement if there ever was one. Prior to his sensational Saturday, he had three hits total in his 22 at-bats spread over six games.

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GOOD AS GAUS

Prior to getting the Game 1 start, Kevin Gausman said he was “fired up” to get things rolling for his team in this is fourth season with the Jays.

And from the outset, the 34-year-old right hander was up to the task until his final inning, anyway.

Feeding off the sellout crowd, which never let up, Gausman lived up to his walk-in song “Money” needing just 50 pitches through five shutout innings and entering the sixth having retired 10 Yankees hitters in a row.

And then came some high drama.

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Gausman’s command of the strike zone deteriorated, and after allowing a double to Anthony Volpe, a single to Austin Wells, suddenly the bases were loaded with Aaron Judge at the plate.

Gausman dug in and got Judge on a swing and miss strikeout but issued a run-scoring walk to Cody Bellinger. After inducing a pop out to Ben Rice, Gausman’s day had ended after 5.2 innings. With the bases still loaded, there was still a mess to clean up, however, but a 101-mile-per-hour fastball from reliever Louis Varland retired Giancarlo Stanton and the Jays escaped with a 2-1 lead.

THE SCENE

The sellout crowd — the largest of the season — didn’t spend much time in their seats, especially when the Jays were at the plate and rallying.

They went crazy when Guerrero hit his homer and again in the second when Alejandro Kirk hit a solo homer off Yankees starter Louis Gil, attacking the first pitch he saw. With the party overflowing, they serenaded their beloved backstop when he added another solo shot in the eighth.

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Waving their handout rally towels, the Jays lived up to the reputation that player after player has raved about. The hope was that with home field advantage through at least the ALCS, the Jays would build on an MLB best 55-27 regular-season home record.

On one glorious day in franchise history, it sure felt like it.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

The value of winning Game 1 cannot be underestimated for a team that was in desperate need of a post-season victory.

It was their first post-season win since 2016 after exiting meekly in each of their previous three wildcard appearances.

And now they hold a critical upper hand in the best-of-five series against the Yankees, a victory that snapped an 0-for-7 playoff losing streak.

This series was always going to shape up as a dogfight and getting the early upper hand is critical. Now the Jays will look to baffle the Yanks with rookie starter Trey Yesavage. After that, the Jays have veteran Shane Bieber ready for Game 3 in New York on Tuesday.

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