Yankees left in disbelief: 'Didn't finish the goal'

NEW YORK -- Late Wednesday and into early Thursday, as clubhouse attendees taped together boxes for players to pack and everyone said their goodbyes for the winter, a sense of disbelief hovered over the New York Yankees.

From manager Aaron Boone to superstar Aaron Judge on down, the Yankees believed this team was more talented, more complete, better equipped to handle October than the club that went to the World Series a year ago.

But the 2025 Yankees will not reach the World Series. They will not even reach the American League Championship Series. Their season ended Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium to extend their championship drought to a 16th season, the third longest in franchise history.

"It's tough to describe," Judge said. "We didn't do our job, didn't finish the goal. We had a special group in here, a lot of special players that made this year fun, but we didn't get the ultimate prize so we came up short."

Standing in the Yankees' way to the championship series was the team that stood in their way of the AL East title. Toronto went 8-5 against the Yankees during the regular season to claim the tiebreaker that proved to be the difference in getting a bye through the wild-card round when the teams finished with identical AL-best 94-68 records.

But for as ugly as the first two games of the series were for the Yankees -- Toronto outscored them 23-8 in blowouts at Rogers Centre -- they reported to work Wednesday a confident bunch, riding high after Judge, blistering at the plate in this postseason, delivered a monumental three-run home run in Game 3 that helped extend their season.

On paper, they had the pitching advantage: rookie Cam Schlittler, coming off a historic eight-inning performance in the wild-card series, opposite a slew of familiar relievers in the division rivals' 21st meeting of the year. Win, and the pressure would shift to the Blue Jays to avoid a collapse in Game 5 at home.

Schlittler did not resemble the dominant force that held the Boston Red Sox scoreless in an elimination game the previous week, but he pitched well enough to give New York a chance to stave off elimination. However, the Yankees fumbled the opportunity, managing just the two runs on six hits. They stranded two runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings, and left the bases loaded in the eighth.

"It's brutal," said Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who finished the series 1-for-15 with 10 strikeouts. "I'm kind of in shock."

The Blue Jays collected 12 more hits to finish with 50 in the series and outscored New York 34-19 to reach the ALCS for the first time since 2016. The 34 runs were the fourth-most runs ever scored in a team's first four postseason games. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the way, going 9-for-17 with three home runs and nine RBIs, to counter Judge, who went 13-for-26 in the postseason to become the sixth player all time to hit at least .500 in a single postseason.

The difference was in the supporting casts. Toronto utilityman Ernie Clement recorded three straight multihit games to finish 9-for-14 in the series. Center fielder Daulton Varsho went 7-for-16. Catcher Alejandro Kirk whacked two home runs. In Game 4, Addison Barger knocked three hits. Nathan Lukes added two, including a backbreaking two-run single to increase Toronto's lead to 4-1 in the seventh inning. And Myles Straw came off the bench to drive in the final run with a single in the eighth. As a team, the Blue Jays batted .338 with a .974 OPS in the series.

"They didn't miss and they scored, it felt like, every time they had a guy in scoring position," Yankees catcher Austin Wells said. "They did whatever they could to put the ball in play. And they were ready. They were on it from the first at-bat. It was impressive."

Said Boone: "They took it to us this series."

For the final month of the regular season, as his club rounded into form and the wins accumulated, Boone did not hesitate to share that he believed this year's club was the most talented in his eight seasons on the top step. It boasted power, speed, an improved defense, a stout rotation and a bullpen featuring several proven veterans. He envisioned a path to the World Series. He wasn't the only one.

"We all thought we were the team to win the World Series," Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. "But baseball is baseball. We all know baseball can take a turn in any way, any time. Baseball favors nobody."