Jays Watch: Guerrero bests Judge as Toronto's team effort floors Yankees

Welcome to Jays Watch, where we'll have you covered throughout the Toronto Blue Jays' postseason run. Here are our takeaways from the Blue Jays' 5-2 series-clinching win over the New York Yankees in Wednesday's ALDS Game 4.

'They took it to us'

After finishing last in the AL East a season ago, Toronto is off to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016 after knocking off the Yankees in the Bronx.

What a statement series it was from the Blue Jays.

Toronto finished tied with New York for the AL's best record and, despite dominating the regular-season series, entered the ALDS as underdogs in many people's eyes.

The two teams had contrasting styles. The Yankees, powered by Aaron Judge, outslugged everyone, while the Blue Jays used a balanced attack based on putting the ball in play, relied heavily on their depth, and converted outs with strong defense.

It's clear which brand of baseball was more conducive to winning in October.

Toronto didn't just eliminate the Yankees - it dominated them for the majority of the series, and the result will likely bring about some significant changes in New York.

The Blue Jays beat their division rivals in every facet of the game. Their starters were better. They hit for power, they hit for contact, and they didn't strike out. They took care of the baseball (with the exception of Game 3). They were the aggressors. Toronto wasn't at all intimidated.

"Credit to the Blue Jays and the year they've had," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "They beat us this series, simple as that."

He added: "They've had a terrific year and built an outstanding team. Credit to John (Schneider) and those guys. They took it to us this series."

The Blue Jays were paced by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but, as was the case all season, the supporting cast was integral to the team's success.

Utility man Ernie Clement went 9-for-14 with five RBIs. Daulton Varsho collected five extra-base hits over four games. Nathan Lukes drove in five runs in 12 at-bats.

"Ernie had an unbelievable first postseason series for a guy that has been through it a little bit," Schneider said. "I think he kind of epitomizes what we are in terms of how we play. So I'm thrilled for him, but the bottom part of our lineup has been relentless the entire season."

'Just missed it'

The Yankees' cleaned up a suspect defense over the last few months, but a sloppy play in the seventh inning led to the end of their season.

All series, it felt like New York was a moment away from a big gaffe, and then it finally happened.

With the Blue Jays up 2-1, Andrés Giménez hit what looked to be an inning-ending double play. However, the ball ate Jazz Chisholm Jr. up, putting runners on the corners. Giménez then stole second, and he scored when Lukes ripped a two-RBI single to make it 4-1.

New York had played pretty well defensively for the better part of the series until Chisholm's critical error, which led to the eventual winning run.

"Didn't think it would play the way it played and just missed it," Chisholm said, according to SNY's Phillip Martinez. "Been thinking about it since the play happened, still thinking about it now. Can't get it out of my head. Got to move on eventually - have three months to move on. Will probably think about this when the season starts next year."

'Their job is to go execute'

The Blue Jays' bullpen struggled at times in the series. Luckily for them, they saved their best bullets for the clincher.

Toronto's relievers entered Game 4 having allowed 13 runs over 12 1/3 innings, many of them charged to the team's lower-leverage arms. But with a bullpen game on tap, almost everyone played a part in closing out the series.

Schneider was incredibly aggressive with his bullpen deployment in Game 4, using a number of his high-leverage arms in the early innings. You've heard of pitching backward; this was bullpenning backward. Louis Varland opened the game and handed the ball to Mason Fluharty, who handed it to Seranthony Domínguez. A trio that was responsible for so many late-inning outs during the regular season secured the first 12 outs for Schneider on Wednesday.

Varland, who surrendered a pair of homers to the Yankees in Game 3, told Schneider that he wanted to start Game 4 to atone for that outing.

"You're kind of mapping out best possible scenarios, and the guys have to go do their part," Schneider said. "Again, it's not fun per se, but I think we view it as a good challenge. And our guys have really kind of accepted that this year and done really well with it."

Eight relievers combined to allow two runs over nine innings, striking out 10.

"My job is to try to put them in the right spots," Schneider said. "Their job is to go execute, which they all did. So you can have a plan, you can have a script, whatever, it is what it is, but the players have to go do it."

'I had a great series'

Guerrero's faced a lot of scrutiny during his career. That's only been amplified since he signed his $500-million extension.

This October, he's rewritten a lot of the narratives about him.

Toronto won the series based on a number of contributions from across the roster, but make no mistake, the team followed its superstar's lead.

Guerrero went blow for blow with Judge, finishing the ALDS 9-for-17 with three home runs, nine RBIs, and just one strikeout.

"It feels great," Guerrero said. "Like I say all the time, every time I come here I try to do my best to help my team win. I put in all the work, and thank God this time I had a great series, and we won the series."

The fact that Guerrero did this to the Yankees, in the Bronx, had to be even sweeter for him. Though he's attempted to downplay his previous comments about never wanting to play for the Evil Empire, it was clear during his celebration that he was soaking everything in - especially the champagne. And he didn't miss the opportunity to take one more shot at New York.

'Didn't finish the goal'

Judge will shoulder the blame for the Yankees' postseason failures, but he was one of the few players in pinstripes who showed up against the Blue Jays.

The two-time MVP slashed .600/.684/.933 in four games. He led the Yankees in runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, and walks. His heroics were the entire reason they were able to take one game off the Blue Jays.

"We didn't do our job, didn't finish the goal," Judge said postgame.

He added: "You play to win, and when you don't win it's not a good year. Just gotta put in more work, review the season, see what I can keep doing to put this team in the best position to win every night."

The responsibility for this postseason failure rests heavily on Judge's supporting cast.

Giancarlo Stanton went 4-for-15 with four strikeouts in the series. Cody Bellinger finished 3-for-16. Chisholm and Trent Grisham combined to go 4-for-31 with one RBI. Anthony Volpe struck out 11 times in 15 at-bats.

And as poor as the offense was, the starting pitching - outside of rookie Cam Schlittler - was a major issue. Luis Gil, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodón allowed 15 runs over eight innings. Fried and Rodón failed to pitch into the fourth inning.

"I think, once again, it comes down to the little things - making the little plays, coming through with the big hit. If you don't do that, teams are going to capitalize," Judge said. "What a season for the Blue Jays."

The Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009. This marks the first time in their last three trips to the postseason that they've fallen short of the ALCS.

"I'm confident we'll break through, and I have been every year, and I believe in so many of the people in that room," Boone said. "That hasn't changed. The fire hasn't changed. It's hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life."

'Nice to take a deep breath'

Schneider was adamant that the Blue Jays benefited from avoiding the wild-card series. It's clear the players were fresh.

Toronto will once again enjoy a break - the ALCS doesn't open until Sunday at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays will also benefit from the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers needing a Game 5 on Friday. The Mariners have yet to announce a starter, but the Tigers have tabbed ace Tarik Skubal, which will probably keep him from pitching until Game 3 of the ALCS if Detroit advances.

"It's nice to take a deep breath," Schneider said. "It's really nice to go home and know that we're playing at home, and it's nice to kind of sort through what we think is the best way to try to beat whoever we're going to play."

The Blue Jays went 4-3 against Detroit and 4-2 against Seattle this season, though Toronto hasn't played either team in months. It likely won't hurt that Blue Jays fans usually travel well to Seattle and Detroit given both cities' proximity to the Canadian border.

This handful of days off also allows shortstop Bo Bichette to continue to recover from a knee injury that's kept him out of the postseason. He said he believes he's making progress toward a return, though it's unclear when he might be ready.