Aaron Judge Reflects On Yankees’ Lost Season: ‘We Didn’t Do Our Job’

The New York Yankees‘ hopes of returning to the World Series ended on Wednesday night as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them 5-2 in the Bronx.

It’s the 16th straight season the Yankees have failed to hoist the trophy, making it the third longest drought in franchise history.

“It’s tough to describe,” outfielder Aaron Judge said after the loss. “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.”

After losing the first two games in Canada by a combined score of 23-8, the Yankees sparked hope after mounting a comeback from 6-1 down in Game 3 to win 9-6. However, the next day proved to be a different story as the Blue Jays dominated hitting in a 5-2 victory.

“It comes down to the little things,” Judge said. “Making the little plays, come with the big hit. If you don’t do that, give teams extra outs, they’re going to capitalize on it.”

The Yankees finished the regular season with a 94-68 record, only missing out on the AL East crown by head-to-head record against the Blue Jays. The tiebreaker proved costly as the Yankees were forced to play a wild card series against the Boston Red Sox, while Toronto held home-field advantage and a first round bye.

The pill will be a difficult one to swallow for manager Aaron Boone, who earlier this year said he had his “best team” of his eight-season Yankees tenure.

“The ending is the worst,” Boone said after Wednesday’s defeat. “Especially when you know you have a really good group and a group of guys that really came together so well at the right time. This was a team.”

For the Blue Jays, the Canadian ball club advanced to its first ALCS since 2016 where they will face the winner between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners.

Meanwhile, it’s set to be another offseason in the Bronx with questions still to be answered.

“You play to win, and when you don’t win, it’s not a good year,” Judge said. “Just got to put in more work, review the season, see what I can keep doing and try to help this team, put them in the best position to win every single night.”