MLB Baseball

2025-10-08 - Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees
United States : MLB Baseball Playoff Divisional Series Game 4
Wednesday 8th October 2025 - Scheduled 7:08pm
12:08am (British Time)

Preview

There is no doubt that Aaron Judge will go down as one of the all-time great New York Yankees, but the man himself would admit that his stock will always be dimmed without a Championship.

The regular season numbers have long been very impressive and Aaron Judge may win MVP yet again, but the Playoffs is where you really make your name and Judge has long been criticised for failing to produce a truly memorable post-season moment. He had chances earlier in this Divisional Round Series, but had come up short and that had to be on the mind of the batter as he stepped onto the plate with the Yankees struggling.

Two games behind and three runs behind, Aaron Judge came to the plate with runners on base, although the Toronto Blue Jays called out Louis Varland from the bullpen.

One big Home Run later and the game was not only tied, but the momentum was with the New York Yankees and Aaron Judge has been praised for helping his team get back into this Divisional Round Series.

It had been all Toronto before that huge moment at the bottom of the Fourth Inning, and two Innings later the Yankees were leading and eventually prevailing in Game 3.

Game 4 is back in The Bronx on Wednesday and the Yankees have been placed as big favourites after the Blue Jays had already decided that this would be a game dominated by the relievers. Louis Varland is set to go out and start, which means another renewal with Aaron Judge at the bottom of the opening stanza, but the Blue Jays will quickly move onto Eric Lauer who has been used as a reliever capable of going through multiple Innings.

Eric Lauer has not faced the New York Yankees this season and the Blue Jays will be hoping that unfamiliarity can cool down the bats which came alive at the end of Game 2. It has already been made clear that 'all hands are on deck' for Game 4 with the exception being Kevin Gausman, who has been tipped to start Game 5 if needed.

However, the Blue Jays will not be afraid to throw in Gausman if there is a chance to close out this Series on Wednesday, although the uncertainty around Toronto's plans makes this difficult to call.

Not many New York batters have experience of facing Lauer and so there is a test for them.

The same can be said for rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler as he prepares to make his second Playoff start after dominating the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Round. It was a performance that will live long in the memory and will be placed in New York lore, but Schlittler will know that another big performance is needed to make sure the Yankees have one more shot at trying to win in Toronto and moving onto the American League Championship Series again.

Cam Schlittler did not have an easy time facing this contact making Toronto lineup in the regular season.

Two starts were made against them and Schlittler gave up six runs across those- most concerning is that his shortest start of the regular season came against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankees Stadium last month when he did not get out of the Second Inning having allowed four runs.

He eventually took the decision loss that day and this Blue Jays batting lineup are still playing really well, even if they were beaten on Tuesday. They have scored at least six runs in every game, while Toronto have been able to chase Luis Gil, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon out of starts very quickly.

Prediction

This could be a game in which relievers are called upon early and often and that is for both the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.

It is the Yankees who are going with a traditional starter approach, but Cam Schlittler had difficulties with this Toronto batting lineup in the regular season. None of the three Yankees starters have managed to come out for the Fourth Inning and so there is a lot of pressure on the rookie, despite the dominant outing against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Round.

This Blue Jays batting lineup will force Cam Schlittler to work and his Strikeout line may be a touch high, as was the feeling with Max Fried in Game 2.

Last month Schlittler was not able to get out of the Second Inning and he has had five Strikeouts in just shy of 7 Innings thrown against the Blue Jays this season. He will be looking for soft contact as much as anything and backing the under on the Strikeout total may be the best angle to take for Game 4 of this fascinating Divisional Round Series.

The Home Runs have been flying in this Series and Yankees Stadium is always going to provide chances for that happening.

It would not be a surprise to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr produce another having highlighted him in Game 3 and at 6.00 he will have his backers again.

However, Cam Schlittler has not given up a Home Run in any of his last five starts in this ballpark and so the focus turns to the New York Yankees.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr came up in big spots in Game 3, but this one may be headlined by Cody Bellinger.

He had 29 Home Runs in the regular season, while Bellinger is 3-11 in his plate appearances in this Series.

Perhaps most important is that he is one of the few Yankees with real experience of facing Eric Lauer, who is expected to come into this game after a couple of Innings. That should mean Cody Bellinger could face this pitcher twice as he looks to add to his 6-22 mark against him, which does include a Home Run.

Cody Bellinger is 7.25 to hit a deep shot in this one and he should have at least four chances to try and do that, while potentially against a tired reliever at some point too.