Judge smashes three-run home run

Facing elimination in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, Aaron Judge delivered for the New York Yankees.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, he turned a 99 mph four-seamer from Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Louis Varland into a 373-foot shot that ricocheted off the foul pole, scoring Austin Wells and Trent Grisham.

It was Judge's first home run this year on a pitch outside the strike zone.

The timing was massive, as it tied the score at 6-6 after New York previously trailed 6-1 earlier in the contest. Only four teams in MLB postseason history have erased a five-run deficit when facing elimination, most recently the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2012 National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals.

Judge's score-tying homer was his 11th hit of this postseason, the most by a Yankee through the club's first six postseason games since Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez each had 11 in 2004. Teams trailing by at least five runs when facing elimination were 4-129 (.030) entering today.

ESPN Research contributed to this report.