TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays fans remained hopeful despite not getting the result they wanted on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays fell 9-6 to the New York Yankees in Game 3 of their best-of-five American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. Toronto led 6-1 in the third inning and chased Yankees’ starter Carlos Rodon, before faltering against New York’s bullpen.
Some fans at Hoops Sports Bar & Grill were seen consoling each other and telling one another the Jays will get the next one, and to keep their hopes up.
With Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday night, Toronto can advance to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2016 with a win.
“I have been following this team for so long. I’ve always been a pessimistic Jays fan. I did not think we were going to do anything,” said Will Brisbin, who moved to Toronto from Edmonton a week ago.
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“We finished last in the division last year. The (playoff) heartbreak against Minnesota (in 2023), the heartbreak against Seattle (2022). It seemed like everything was falling apart. But man, I’ll give (general manager) Ross Atkins credit. Small ball and defence. He has been building that for years. And I didn’t expect it to work. But it just did.”
This is the team’s first playoff appearance since 2023 and this series was the first Toronto got to host since 2022. Saturday’s Game 1 victory was Toronto’s first post-season victory since Game 4 of the 2016 ALCS.
Toronto went 74-88 and finished last in the AL East in 2024. Having started out the season 14-16 by April’s end, the team didn’t give fans plenty to dream about.
But then came the turnaround, with the Blue Jays eventually finishing 94-68, winning their first AL East title since 2015 and earned the top seed in the AL thanks to a tiebreaker over the Yankees.
“It’s been amazing because the last time they were good was 2015,” said Kyle Alexee. “I wasn’t really a big baseball fan at the time, I just recently became a big baseball fan and so it’s really good.
“I’ve been enjoying it and we like flew here from (Prince Rupert) B.C., so like we travelled across (the) country to come here to see Game 1 and 2 so that was really cool to see.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press