Blue Jays beat Yankees 5-2 to reach American League Championship Series

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM GAME FOUR OF AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES BETWEEN TORONTO BLUE JAYS AND NEW YORK YANKEES COMPLETE SHOTLIST TO FOLLOW  SHOWS: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 8, 2025) (MLB – See restrictions before use) TORONTO BLUE JAYS AT NEW YORK YANKEES AT YANKEE STADIUM – GAME FOUR OF AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES STORY: Jeff Hoffman secured a four-out save as the Toronto Blue Jays deployed eight pitchers in a bullpen game to defeat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Wednesday (October 8), clinching their American League Division Series three games to one. The Blue Jays, advancing to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016, will host the Seattle Mariners or Detroit Tigers on Sunday. The Blue Jays dominated the Yankees in their first postseason clash, outscoring them 34-19, and secured home-field advantage after winning 11 of 17 meetings this year, including an 8-5 regular-season record. Blue Jays' George Springer broke a tie with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and contributed earlier by scoring on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s single in the first. Nathan Lukes added a two-run single in the seventh after Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s fielding error, while Myles Straw delivered an RBI single in the eighth. The Blue Jays out-hit the Yankees 12-6. Hoffman entered in the eighth after Braydon Fisher allowed a hit to Giancarlo Stanton and walked Chisholm. The closer loaded the bases but escaped by retiring Austin Wells on a flyout. Hoffman yielded an RBI single to Aaron Judge in the ninth but struck out Cody Bellinger to end the game. Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out two after fanning 12 in his previous outing against Boston. Ryan McMahon homered in the third for New York, which fell behind in all four games of the series and lost in the Division Series for the third time under manager Aaron Boone. Toronto's Seranthony Dominguez, the third of eight pitchers used, threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Louis Varland, who surrendered Judge's tying three-run homer on Tuesday, opened the game with 1 1/3 scoreless frames, allowing a single to Judge. (Production: Suramya Kaushik) More MLB content is available on Reuters Connect here: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?sources=mlbimagen

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)