“Well, I mean, it looked ugly, looked very ugly.” Those were the first words from Yankees legend Derek Jeter on the FOX Sports post-game show while describing the New York Yankees’ 10-1 playoff loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. And considering this nine-run defeat was the Yankees’ largest margin of defeat in a playoff game since 2018, it really was very ugly. But the final score doesn’t tell the whole story because it was a tight 2-1 game for much of the night until their bullpen completely fell apart late, and their offense failed to break it open in the sixth inning against Kevin Gausman when they had their only chance.

Trailing 2-0, the Yankees finally found a golden opportunity against the Blue Jays’ ace after Anthony Volpe’s double, followed by a single from Austin Wells, and a Trent Grisham walk. It was a true “mano a mano” moment for the next on bat, Aaron Judge. But he failed to take advantage of the moment and struck out swinging on a 3-2 count. On the FOX Sports post-game show, the 2009 World Series winner Alex Rodriguez put Judge’s mechanics under a microscope and asked viewers to watch the slugger’s body language closely.

“He’s in between, fellas, and what I mean is he feels like he’s in a rocking chair,” Alex Rodriguez explained. Gausman mixed his fastball with his nasty splitter in an eight-pitch duel against the best hitter in baseball and outdueled him completely, as Judge was caught guessing. Discussing the final 86.1 mph splitter from Gausman that struck out Aaron Judge, A-Rod said, “He’s[Judge] a little late on that… and then his best pitch for last, a nasty split for the strikeout, the single best biggest pitch of the game.”

But Derek Jeter immediately countered that with the bigger picture and backed Judge, who went 2 for 4 with a single and a double, becoming the only Yankee who reached the base more than once. “Yeah, well, I think let’s give him a little credit. He did have two hits,” Jeter said. “I do feel as though he is getting more comfortable. You play in postseason games, there’s always going to be big at-bats … everyone has been in those situations and struggles.”

“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].”

Though the two legends debated Judge’s performance at length, it’s not like the rest of the lineup was devoid of struggle.

Beyond Aaron Judge, familiar problems plague the Pinstripes

The team managed only six hits and went a dismal 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Cody Bellinger went 0-for-3, though he did draw a bases-loaded walk for the team’s only run in the sixth inning. Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice both went 0-for-4, with Stanton striking out to end the sixth-inning threat.

The Yankees’ bullpen — a problem all season — posted a 4.37 ERA during the regular season, ranking near the bottom of the league, and it continued to be a major weakness into the postseason. The bullpen was asked to record a lot of outs after starter Luis Gil lasted only 2.2 innings, and they failed as expected, except for Camilo Doval, who had two scoreless innings.

The Blue Jays scored eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings alone. Reliever Luke Weaver was particularly ineffective after his failure in his last outing against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the Wild Card series, failing to record a single out against the three batters he faced.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, looked every bit like one of the best teams in the American League. They collected 14 hits, powered by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s solo homer and Alejandro Kirk’s two home runs, to snap their seven-game postseason losing streak.

However, Toronto is not without its weaknesses, as the team’s 4.19 ERA ranked just 19th in the MLB, and its bullpen can be inconsistent. More importantly, major injuries to shortstop Bo Bichette and starting pitchers Chris Bassitt and José Berríos can prove costly later in the series.

Despite that, it will not be easy for the Yankees to take the helm in the series, at least at the Rogers Centre, where the Jays have an AL-best 54-27 home record and have defeated the Yankees eight times in their 13 regular-season matchups.