Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

DJ LeMahieu came fresh off the bench to pinch hit and did exactly what the Yankees needed him to do: walk it off. Facing Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, LeMahieu’s single won the game.

The win was a relief for the Yankees. Anthony Volpe’s home run gave New York a 2-0 lead in the eighth. Yet, Toronto tied it up in the ninth on Danny Jansen’s pinch-hit home run.

And just like Michael Jordan, the Yankees took that personally. Anthony Rizzo led off the ninth with a double off the left field wall that almost cleared the fence. Pinch runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa advanced to third on Gleyber Torres’ infield single. Willie Calhoun drew a walk, and cue two-time batting champion DJ LeMahieu.

The rubber game of the series is set for Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.