Traded Twins pitcher drops a bad quote after Aaron Judge consigns him to the history books

The Toronto Blue Jays took an early 6-1 lead against the New York Yankees in ALDS Game 3. New York came into the series trailing 2-0, making Game 3 a must-win game for the Yankees. All Toronto had to do to advance to the ALCS was hold on to a five-point lead. Aaron Judge had other plans.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits ridiculous pitch for huge home run against former Twin Louis Varland in ALDS Game 3

The Yankees were able to narrow the deficit to three runs in the third inning with an RBI double by Judge and a sacrifice fly by Giancarlo Stanton. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, the Blue Jays gifted the Yankees a runner in third baseman Addison Barger, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the third inning and dropped a routine pop-fly, allowing Austin Wells to reach second base with one out. Trent Grisham followed with a walk, driving the tying run to Judge, which led to Toronto pulling lefty reliever Mason Fluharty in favor of former Twins righty reliever Louis Varland.

Varland, which the Blue Jays acquired from the Twins on July 31, quickly jumped ahead in the count at 0-2, but Judge didn’t budge. For the third pitch of the at-bat, Varland threw in a 100-mph fastball, but Judge still managed to put a majestic swing on it, tying the game at 6-6 with a 350-foot three-run homer that hit the foul pole in left field.

Considering the quality of the field, Varland can only tip his hat to Judge, who may be on his way to earning his third AL MVP Award.

“[Judge] made a really good field look really bad,” said Varland, per from Sportnet Ben Nicholson Smith.

Varland managed to get out of the fourth inning without allowing further damage, but was relieved in the fifth inning after striking out Stanton and allowing a go-ahead solo home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. the Yankees won the game 9-6.

The Yankees will host ALDS Game 4 on Wednesday at 6:08 PM CT. Varland will be the opener for Toronto, while Cam Schlittler will make the start on the mound for New York. If the Blue Jays win, they will advance to the ALCS. If the Yankees win, ALDS Game 5 will take place Friday night in Toronto.