NEW YORK — The ghosts of all-time Yankees in Monument Park willed Aaron Judge’s signature October home run to stay fair and strike the foul pole on Tuesday night. But they have been waiting for a reason to take a trip down to the Canyon of Heroes for a while now.

They’ve watched from high above Yankee Stadium in the Bronx as teams overflowing with talent have fallen short of the standard they set a century ago.

There were stretches this season that showed this year could be different. The Yankees won 94 games. Judge made more history. The pivot plan to make up for Juan Soto’s departure worked. Young studs took steps forward and veterans provided the glue that got this team through plenty of adversity.

But the end result in October turned out to be the same as it has been. A team that many considered to be the best in the Aaron Boone era — including the group with Soto that made it to the World Series last year — was ultimately destined for the outcome that’s transformed into an annual disappointment since the Yankees hoisted their most recent trophy in 2009.

That was 16 years ago now, and as sluggers Judge and Giancarlo Stanton and injured ace Gerrit Cole age into their mid-30s, the championship drought on 161st Street will continue for at least one more year.

The Yankees fell to the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday night 5-2, watching helplessly from the first-base dugout as another team celebrated on their home field. They lost the series 3-1, and on Wednesday, it was due to a quiet offense, which had carried this club throughout the regular season.

With the Blue Jays sending eight different pitchers to the mound, piecing together a bullpen game, the Yankees mustered only six hits.

When they found themselves in run-scoring situations, the clutch hit they needed was elusive. They were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.

That wasn’t the case when the Yankees staved off elimination in Game 3 on Tuesday night. The Yankees battled back from a five-run deficit to keep their season alive and win 9-6. Judge drilled his thrilling three-run shot to tie the score, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the Yankees the lead while their bullpen shined, making up for a Carlos Rodón clunker.

On Wednesday, in a game where they finally got a strong outing from their starting pitcher, the first of its kind in this ALDS, it wasn’t enough for the Yankees’ fourth win-or-go-home victory of the postseason.

Rookie phenom Cam Schlittler was good against the Blue Jays, but with the Yankees’ offense absent, he needed to be as dominant as his last win-or-go-home start in the Wild Card Series.

That night, in the “start of his life,” Schlittler shoved eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks. Against Toronto, a team that roughed him up in the regular season, Schlittler gave up four runs (two earned) over 6 1/3 innings on eight hits. He didn’t walk a batter, but only struck out two.

Schlittler showed he’s a mortal in October right away. Leadoff man George Springer pounced on the second pitch of the game, pulling a double into the left-field corner. Two batters later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove an 0-2 cutter the other way, sneaking an RBI single inside the foul line to put Toronto on the board.

On the pitch prior, Guerrero whiffed on a cutter off the outside edge from Schlittler. When he went back to the well, Guerrero got good wood on it. With the way Guerrero swung the bat in this series — he hit .529 (9-for-17) with three home runs in these four games — even electric stuff and well-placed pitches weren’t enough to contain him.

A solo home run from third baseman Ryan McMahon tied the score at one run apiece in the third.

It came against Blue Jays lefty Mason Fluharty on an 0-2 sweeper, an impressive swing against a reliever who has been particularly tough on left-handed hitters this season.

That lead was gone two innings later. Schlittler gave up a leadoff single to No. 8 hitter Ernie Clement, who also starred in this series. He had as many hits as Guerrero, batting a staggering .643 (9-for-14). He came around to score after a single from nine-hole hitter Andrés Giménez and a sacrifice fly from Springer.

Schlittler had Giménez in an 0-2 count, an at-bat that started with a sacrifice bunt attempt. In a 1-2 count, the right-hander’s fastball crept back over the middle of the plate, enough for the shortstop to bounce it up the middle.

Springer’s sac fly to deep center was on a heater over the heart of the plate.

Schlittler was a tick down in velocity compared to his all-timer against Boston, and with a Blue Jays lineup that rarely ever strikes out, they put the ball in play all night, capitalizing whenever the rookie missed his locations.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone stuck with Schlittler into the seventh inning, and even after another Clement single, Schlittler induced what should’ve been an inning-ending double play. The one-hopper to Chisholm Jr. from Giménez bounced off his glove and into center field.

Reliever Devin Williams entered to try and hold the score — his first outing of the year when he entered in the middle of an inning — but after a Springer strikeout, Nathan Lukes slapped a single to left-center, plating two.

Chisholm had a brutal three-out stretch that included a groundout in the bottom of the fifth inning with two men on and the costly error.

Another run from the Blue Jays in the eighth inning put the Yankees in a four-run hole. They had the bases loaded in the bottom of that frame, but Austin Wells flew out weakly to left field, sending some impatient fans to the exits.

In the ninth, Judge blasted an RBI single off the left-field wall against closer Jeff Hoffman, plating Jasson Domínguez, who came off the bench as a pinch hitter to start the frame. It was fitting. Judge’s postseason ended with a .500 average (13-for-26) with a homer and seven RBI in seven games, but it still wasn’t enough.

Hoffman struck Cody Bellinger out swinging to end the game, signaling the beginning of what’s poised to be a long and intriguing winter.

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