Yankee déjà vu: New York done in again by costly error in season-ending playoff loss

NEW YORK — The ball bounced off Jazz Chisholm's right leg and deflected toward the outfield grass.

It was the top of the seventh inning. 

Chisholm looked back, then at his glove, then back again. Ernie Clement moved easily from first to third, setting up what would become the Yankees' fatal blow in their season-ending loss in Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Blue Jays.

The Yankee faithful had seen it before. A season undone by errors. By careless mistakes. By mental lapses. What happened here felt fitting: a final collapse that mirrored everything they'd been all year. 

"I've been thinking about that since it happened," said Chisholm, who couldn't come up with Andrés Giménez's sharp grounder, following the Yankees' 5-2 loss. "Still thinking about it. Still can't get out of my head, but at the end of the day, we got to move on eventually." 

The Chisholm error erased what should have been an easy inning-ending double play, with the Yankees still trailing 2-1. Instead, it turned what had been another quality start from rookie Cam Schlittler into a distant memory. His night was done after 6 ⅓ innings. Devin Williams came in and two more runs crossed the plate.

New York couldn't escape this flaw. Not Wednesday evening. Not against this Blue Jays team led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who might now be stepping into his moment. Guerrero hit .529/.550/1.059 (a 1.609 OPS) in 20 ALDS plate appearances. Not against a team that, collectively, hit .338/.373/.601. No, that's not a typo. 

Their swings are built for this moment, built for postseason baseball. Much of that comes from their approach, shaped by hitting coach David Popkins, who was fired by the Twins last offseason only to go north and help build one of the best offenses in baseball.

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Toronto doesn't swing and miss much. The Blue Jays compiled an 80.6 contact percentage this season, the highest in the majors, and their 9.4 percent whiff rate ranked second lowest in baseball. In this series alone, they went 15 for 37 with runners in scoring position. So it was almost expected when Nathan Lukes peppered a ball over the head of Anthony Volpe to score two runs in the seventh.

Schlittler, whose stuff was a tick down, struck out just two batters after fanning 12 in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.

"We make a lot of contact," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "That's been evident throughout the year. I think the epitome of it is Nathan Lucas facing Devin Williams, knowing he's probably going to get a fastball because Vlad's sitting on deck and not being afraid to commit to it, knowing the changeup is his best pitch. Guys have a plan when they go up there, and we try to utilize everyone's skill set to the best that we can." 

Schneider sat at the press conference table, champagne dripping from his hair, the smell still hanging on his black T-shirt. Down the hall, the Blue Jays were loud -- soaked in the same stuff, their clubhouse echoing with Sinatra's "New York, New York." It always tastes a little sweeter in the Bronx.

Meanwhile, the Yankees sat in silence, trying to soak in what just happened. How could the team Boone and Aaron Judge both called their best fall short again? Two rounds short of last year's disappointing World Series defeat.

"It comes down to the little things," Judge said, standing in the middle of the clubhouse, pinstripes still on, eyes fixed toward the distance. "You can't give teams extra outs."

The Blue Jays have their flaws, no doubt, a thin rotation among them. The bullpen has underwhelmed, too. But what they do well, the Yankees, to some degree, don't. Toronto ranked fourth in the majors this year with 51 defensive runs saved. New York ranked 13th with 30, improving late in the season. The Blue Jays also ranked ninth in the big leagues with 16 outs above average, per Baseball Savant. The Yankees were 18th at minus-4.

"I mean, that's part of what I've been talking about the last couple of months," Boone said."I think we're at this point, a really good defensive team. It became that we had to go through some tough moments in the middle of the season, you know. You know what came out of it became a really good and well-rounded club. That's why this hurts." 

Boone's press conference, in part, felt like his own therapy session. He talked about this loss hurting. That he's been "chasing a World Series all my life." 

"It was just a hard year," said Boone. 

As such, the flaws reared their head. They always do when it matters most. The offense, known for its slug, couldn't find it Wednesday. It's hard to live on home runs in October. The pitching is better then. 

"Very disappointed," added Chisholm. "I feel like we all, everybody in here believe that we had such a great team." 

The Blue Jays' celebration spilled onto the infield dirt. Families gathered around shortstop, the mound and second base, the same spot where Chisholm's error silenced any thought that the Yankees still had a chance. 

They'll have to regroup. Retool around a superstar whose prime is slipping away, one wasted October at a time.

Chisholm, meanwhile, will carry the error with him. It's still raw. It'll sit with him for a while -- the double play that wasn't, the flip to Anthony Volpe that never came. 

Chisholm will look back again. 

"I'm still going to be thinking about this even probably when the season starts next year," he said.