As Blue Jays seek sweep, Yankees desperately search for answers

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s bat flip following his grand slam Sunday afternoon was stylistically different from the iconic one unleashed by José Bautista at Rogers Centre a decade ago.

Bautista's was an angry underhand launch with a lot of arc. Guerrero flipped his bat away backhanded, an insouciant toss that perfectly matched his relaxed attitude in the batter's box before belting the home run.

But both acts - the homers, not the bat flips - had a distinct similarity. The franchise-defining moments announced the Blue Jays' arrival on the playoff scene, with Bautista's coming in the 2015 ALDS against the Texas Rangers and Guerrero's happening Sunday during the ALDS versus the New York Yankees.

That's not the only way the Blue Jays of 2025 have suddenly resembled the 2015 edition.

They're raking at the plate, with eight home runs in their first two postseason games. The power display from guys like Guerrero, Daulton Varsho, and George Springer is reminiscent of the way players like Bautista, Edwin Encarnación, and Josh Donaldson could break open games on a team that sparked a baseball revival in Toronto.

On the mound, the Jays have gotten brilliant starts from Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage, two pitchers who couldn't be more different in age and experience but share the ability to whiff Yankees hitters in bunches. As Yesavage struck out batter after batter Sunday, it was notable that the pitcher he passed in the Blue Jays' playoff record book was David Price, who notched eight strikeouts twice during the 2015 postseason. Like Yesavage, Price was a late-season addition who gave Toronto's starting rotation an injection of punchout ability that's particularly useful this time of year.

There are also undeniably good vibes. The raucous scenes at Rogers Centre during the two blowout wins over the weekend felt like those from a decade ago, when the swaggering Jays surged to an AL East title and seemed like they were never out of a game. The performances of late have also been a distinct change from the way they built their division lead over most of this season. The Toronto team of spring and summer won a lot of close games with an offense that wore down opposing teams with high contact rates but not much explosive power. The starting pitching was mostly solid yet unspectacular. Their record was undeniable, but they didn't remind anyone of the 2015 team that, once it got rolling, was a powder keg.

Then came the ALDS against the Yankees, and boom: Swagger activated.

It's been, obviously, just two games. And on the question of whether Toronto can keep this up, a significant contributing factor will be the response of the Yankees, who have had one of the strangest seasons in recent memory.

They jumped out to an early division lead then swooned through June and July, at times looking incapable of simple tasks, like fielding the baseball and throwing it to the correct base. There were calls to fire manager Aaron Boone and/or general manager Brian Cashman and demands that the team bring back its no-facial-hair policy.

Things had gotten pretty grim.

Then the Yankees closed with an 18-7 record in September, caught Toronto in the standings, and reminded everyone that they still had a lot of talented players on the roster - and enough power bats to paper over some weaknesses. The Blue Jays will be aware that a New York lineup featuring Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Cody Bellinger is plenty capable of doing to them what they did to the Yankees at home, even if Judge is still searching for the playoff moment to match his remarkable regular-season form.

The challenge for the Yankees - and the good news for the Blue Jays - is that the ghosts of New York's midsummer swoon remain. Toronto won the AL East on a tiebreaker earned by taking seven of its first 10 games against the Yankees.

That advantage, which forced New York into a wild-card series versus Boston while the Jays lounged about in robes and slippers, allowed Toronto manager John Schneider to set up the rested pitching staff to his liking, with Gausman leading off and Yesavage taking Game 2. The time off also seems to have worked wonders for guys like Guerrero who were scuffling a bit down the stretch.

But the benefit of a bye week will mostly have been used up by now. After Monday's off day, both pitching staffs will be rested, and instead of the celebratory air of its home field, Toronto will have to deal with a hostile Yankee Stadium.

That does, admittedly, provide the Jays one more opportunity: If they can jump out to an early lead again, the hostilities will almost certainly be directed at the players in pinstripes. It's been that kind of season.

Scott Stinson is a contributing writer for theScore.