Sometimes life gives us second chances — and Aaron Judge made his count in the biggest moment of the season. One thunderous swing flipped the script, ignited the Yankees’ offense in a 9-3 win, and sparked a heated debate between two legends, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, in the FOX Sports studio.

In Game 1 of the ALDS, with the bases loaded with zero out and his team down 2-0, Judge missed his chance to break open the game and struck out on the eighth pitch of Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman. The rest of the lineup also couldn’t bring any offense, and the Yankees eventually lost in a 10-1 blowout. Two days later, in a do-or-die Game 3, the Yankees were again in trouble, trailing the Blue Jays 6-3. An error and a walk brought Judge to the plate. Again this time, he quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. Then, on a nearly 100 mph fastball high and inside, he smashed a game-tying 373-foot three-run home run off Louis Varland that hit the foul pole.

Alex Rodriguez saw the home run as a story of pure redemption, and he believed Judge was thinking about his big failure from Game 1. On the broadcast, Rodriguez explained, “I know he’s thinking about Game 1 when he had the bases loaded and he struck out. And here’s a retake, and I know he was relishing his opportunity.” He continued to break down the at-bat from Judge’s perspective.

“The interesting thing about that is, you know, [the pitcher] had done a great job of pitching around him all year, and he pinned himself against the corner here, and he had to pitch to Judge,” A-Rod said.

But Derek Jeter immediately disagreed with that, and he didn’t think Judge was thinking about the past at all. “Yeah, I’d say I would disagree with one thing. I don’t think he was thinking about striking out with the bases loaded in Toronto in that particular at-bat,” Jeter said.

“Because I do think he has had a tremendous postseason this year. Now, he hadn’t hit the big home run until this time, but he was taking what they were giving him, and he was getting his hits, he was getting on base. You could tell by his body language that confidence is there. I don’t know how he hit the pitch, it was a hundred at his neck inside, but you know… and kept it fair… Yeah, man, there’s one person on planet that can do it, and it’s Aaron Judge.”

It is impossible to know what the Judge was thinking. But what we know is, Jeter’s point about Judge’s performance this postseason is spot on. Before 2025, Judge had a career postseason slash line of  .199/.313/.435  in 57 career postseason games. This year, through ALDS Game 3, he is hitting an incredible .500/.577/.727  with a sky-high 1.304 OPS.  The Yankees captain has been a completely different player this October.

And this clash of opinions between Jeter and A-Rod is nothing new

After the Judge’s big strikeout in Game 1, they had a similar disagreement. Alex Rodriguez focused on the mechanics of the at-bat and said Judge looked like he was “in a rocking chair,” caught guessing between pitches, and even called the final pitch from Kevin Gausman “the single best pitch of the game.” But Jeter defended the Yankees captain, saying, “Yeah, well, I think let’s give him a little credit.

He did have two hits.” And was the only Yankee to get on base more than once in that game. So he countered, “I’m giving [Judge] the benefit of the doubt because he did have a couple of good at-bats, gotta give a tip of the cap to [Gausman].”

At the end,  the historic comeback wasn’t just about Aaron Judge. The entire Yankees offense showed incredible effort after falling behind 6-1 early. The rally started in the third inning with back-to-back doubles from Trent Grisham and Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton later drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. And after Judge tied the game, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit the go-ahead solo home run in the fifth inning and gave the Pinstripes their first lead of the entire series.

Austin Wells followed with a clutch two-out single that made the game 8-6 in the same innings after an Amed Rosario double, and Ben Rice added the final run of the game in the bottom of the 6th in a sacrifice fly to RF Anthony Santander.

So, what happens next? The Yankees will hand the ball to rookie sensation Cam Schlittler, who was brilliant in the Wild Card Series, throwing eight shutout innings against the Red Sox,  for Game 4. On the other hand, John Schneider will likely use a “bullpen game”  on Wednesday, October 8.