Aaron Judge leads Yankees to Game 3 ALDS win over Blue Jays

For better or worse, the Yankees so often go as Aaron Judge goes.

And so it took just one momentous swing to come back from the dead, courtesy of their captain, who performed CPR to breathe life into their season and his own postseason legacy.

In a game the Yankees once trailed by five runs in the third inning, staring down elimination, Judge crushed a towering three-run shot high off the left field foul pole to tie the game in the fourth inning.

The signature playoff moment that Judge had been missing opened the floodgates, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a home run of his own an inning later, giving the Yankees their first lead of the series and sending them on their way to a 9-6 win over the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the ALDS on Tuesday night in The Bronx.

On a night when the Blue Jays raced out to an early 6-1 lead against Carlos Rodón, the Yankees bullpen delivered 6 ²/₃ shutout innings to extend the season and make sure Judge’s moon shot mattered. Fernando Cruz (four outs), Camilo Doval (three outs), Tim Hill (four outs) and Devin Williams (four outs) provided the bridge to David Bednar, who delivered a five-out save.

Judge’s dramatic game-tying homer, which sent the sellout crowd of 47,399 into pandemonium, punctuated an all-around standout game for the potential third-time MVP.

He went 3-for-4 with a double, home run, walk, four RBIs and three runs, and added a terrific diving catch in the top of the fifth at a time when the Blue Jays had the go-ahead run at second base.

Suddenly, there is a path for the Yankees, who will send Cam Schlittler to the mound for Game 4. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are set to throw a bullpen game on Wednesday, on the heels of having to use six relievers to get through Tuesday after Shane Bieber lasted just 2 ²/₃ innings.

Judge, who came into the night 8-for-18 with seven singles and one double this postseason, had gotten a chance for a signature moment earlier this series in Game 1, when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning of a game the Yankees trailed 2-0.

But he struck out, the Yankees only mustered one run and the missed opportunity seemed to be lingering over the rest of the series until he walked to the plate again in the fourth inning of Game 3, trailing 6-3 but with two men on and one out.

Hard-throwing righty Louis Varland got ahead 0-2 before unleashing a 99.7 mph inside fastball that Judge turned on and sent into the October night.

He paused at home plate to watch it fly, making sure it went fair before flipping his bat and rounding the bases with a hero’s ovation awaiting him as he tied it 6-6.

Chisholm also took Varland deep in the fifth inning, his on a 99 mph fastball down the middle that he connected on to put the Yankees up 7-6.

In 22 innings in this series before Chisholm’s lined shot, the Blue Jays had led after 21 of them, the other one being a 0-0 tie after the top of the first in Game 2.

The Yankees had been all but left for dead after the Blue Jays scored four runs in the top of the third inning to knock Rodón out of the game — without much help behind him — and take a 6-1 lead.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had delivered another early punch with a two-run shot in the top of the first — his third homer of the series — before his intentional walk was part of the rally in the third inning.

But the Yankees pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to curb some of the Blue Jays momentum.

Trent Grisham and Judge led off with back-to-back doubles before Giancarlo Stanton drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to the warning track that made it 6-3.

The Blue Jays then offered a gift in the fourth inning — third baseman Addison Barger dropping a pop-up down the left field line — and the Yankees took full advantage.

Grisham followed with a walk before the Blue Jays went to their bullpen to bring in Varland to face Judge.

With some momentum finally on their side after Judge and Chisholm went deep, the Yankees added some insurance before the fifth inning was over. Amed Rosario doubled and Austin Wells drove him in on a single laced past Guerrero.

Then in the sixth, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Judge with one out and he came around to score on Ben Rice’s sacrifice fly that made it 9-6.