Weaver and Bullpen Implodes in Late Drubbing. Toronto 10 NY 1

October 5, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Cody Bellinger works a 4-pitch walk with bases loaded to make the score 2-1 Toronto in the 6th.

It was a 2-1 game in the 7th when Luke Weaver came in to try and keep it at that — and didn’t — allowing a walk and 2 singles, and leaving for Fernando Cruz who allowed a walk, double, and sac fly to make it a 6-1 game.

Then Paul Blackburn got torched in the 9th as Toronto blew the Yanks away 10-1 on a late Saturday afternoon (gametime start 4pm) at Rogers Center in Toronto, taking game 1 of the Best-of-5 ALDS series.

In the game that happened before that, Luis Gil was unexpectedly pulled in the 3rd inning just when he seemed to be getting in rhythm after allowing 2 solo HR’s — one to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 1st and the other to Alejandro Kirk in the 2nd. It created a long afternoon for the Yankee bullpen — which started off well with a combined 3.1 innings of shutout pitching by Tim Hill and Camilo Doval.

Meanwhile Kevin Gausman was gassing the Yanks through 5 innings when NY finally got to him in the top of the 6th — loading the bases with nobody out. But Gausman struck out Aaron Judge on a 3-2 pitch and the Yanks only got 1 run — a walk by Cody Bellinger — before Ben Rice popped out and Louis Varland came in and struck out Giancarlo Stanton.

That ended up being the last Yankee offense on the day — besides a single by Ryan McMahon in the 7th and a double by Aaron Judge in the 8th.

“They were hunting top of the zone a little bit and I thought put a lot of good swings on him,” said Boone about Gil. “But we’ll live with the 2 solo shots — we’re in the game there — he did enough were we felt we could still piece it together — hung around, and just weren’t able to punch through like we needed to in an inning where we had a chance to have a big one.”

On Weaver, Boone said “Not a stuff issue. Command is usually a strength for Weav. Losing the first guy on 4 pitches, and then it looked like a couple of changeups that were flat and over the plate that (Anthony) Santander got, then (Andres) Gimenez with the drawn-in infield. It can click like that because the stuff is there — we just need to get him locked in with his delivery.”

1. Gil Coughs Up 2 Solo HR’s — then Pulled in 3rd

Luis Gil got the first 2 outs of the bottom of the 1st when Vladimir Guerrero stepped up and John Smoltz on the national broadcast mentioned that Guerrero had not hit a homerun in a month. And sure enough 2 pitches later Guerrero launched one into the seats in left for a 1-0 Toronto lead.

Gil struck out Addison Barger to end the 1st but allowed a 392-foot blast of a homer to Alejandro Kirk leading off the 2nd and it was 2-0 Toronto.

But after allowing a single to next batter Varsho, Gil settled down — getting strikeout, fly out, and fly out to end the inning.

In the 3rd, he got easy fly out and line out to left when Guerrero singled and just like that Gil was gone — yanked by Aaron Boone at 48 pitches. Addison Barger was due up — whom Gil had struck out in the 1st.

2. Gausman Gasses Yanks thru 5

Meanwhile Kevin Gausman was absolutely gassing the Yanks through 5 innings — getting easy out after easy out with a low pitch count.

Aaron Judge managed a 1-out single off Gausman in the 1st, but Gausman got a fly out and strike out to end the inning, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. got a 1-out single in the 2nd, but Ryan McMahon lined into a double play to 1st on a terrific play by Vlad.

Then Gausman pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Hit pitch count was at 50 through 5 innings — although the Yanks started to show signs of life in the bottom of the 5th — with Jazz Chisholm Jr. ripping a liner to right that Nathan Lukes made a terrific catch on, and Ryan McMahon following with a liner to center, caught by Daulton Varsho.

3. Yanks Get to Gausman in 6th — But Leave ‘Em Loaded

And then with NY down 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th, Anthony Volpe got it going with a leadoff double off the wall in left center — just missing a HR by a few feet.

Chicken Parm buddy Austin Wells ripped a single to right and Trent Grisham worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out and Aaron Judge coming up.

Judge worked the count 3-2 before swinging and missing at a Splitter.

Cody Bellinger worked a 4-pitch walk to drive in a run and make it a 2-1 game.

But Ben Rice just missed a four-seam fastball — getting under it for a pop out — and Gausman’s day was done.

In came Louis Varland, and he struck out Giancarlo Stanton with a 101-MPH fastball.

4. Hill & Doval Great

Meanwhile Tim Hill and Camilo Doval held fort.

Hill relieved Gil in the 3rd and — after allowing Addison Barger to reach on an infield single — got the final out of the inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th.

Camilo Doval was impressive — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and 6th — groundout, groundout, ground out in the 5th, and fly out, fly out, line out in the 6th.

5. Yanks Get a Baserunner in 6th

With the score 2-1 in the bottom of the 6th, Ryan McMahon ripped a 1-out single to right off Varland.

The Blue Jays brought in Seranthony Dominguez to pitch to Anthony Volpe, and with the count 2-1 on Volpe, Boone sent Jose Caballero in to run for McMahon. Afterwards Boone said he simply changed his mind when asked why he sent in Caballero on a 2-1 count vs when Volpe first came up.

But Volpe struck out swinging and Austin Wells grounded out and the score remained a nail-biting 2-1 heading to the 7th.

6. Weaver Fucks Up in 7th

But Luke Weaver didn’t have it in the top of the 7th — walking leadoff batter Daulton Varsho on 5 pitches then yielding a single to right by Anthony Santander, and a single to right through the drawn-in infield by Andres Gimenez for a 3-1 game.

7. Cruz Doesn’t Help

Fernando Cruz came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out. Ernie Clement bunted the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Cruz walked George Springer to load the bases, then coughed up a 2-RBI double to Nathan Luke and the game was essentially over at 5-1.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a sac fly to make it 6-1, burying the Yanks — before Paul Blackburn came in to get the final out.

8. Judge Got a Double in the 8th

Despite striking out on a 3-2 pitch with bases loaded in the 5th — Aaron Judge remained hot — with 2 hits on the day including a double with 1 out in the 8th.

8. Blackburn Torched

After getting the last out of the 8th, Paul Blackburn stayed in for the 9th — and imploded. Homerun by Alejandro Kirk leading off the inning to make it 7-1, then a double by Daulton Varsho, single by Miles Straw, RBI double by Andres Gimenez to make it 8-1, and sac fly by Ernie Clement to make it 9-1 — the first out of the inning.

Blackburn got George Springer to ground out for the 2nd out, but Nathan Lukes singled to center to make it 10-1.

In the 9th, Jeff Hoffman got foul out, fly out, hit Jose Caballero with a pitch, then struck out Volpe for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401809263

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