The Toronto Blue Jays evened the American League Championship Series at two games apiece Thursday night, defeating the Seattle Mariners 8-2 in Game 4.
Max Scherzer was solid over 5.2 innings and Andres Gimenez drove in four runs to help the Jays re-take homefield advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Game 5 will go at T-Mobile Park in Seattle Friday night before shifting back to Toronto for Game 6 and if necessary, Game 7.
Scherzer allowed just two earned runs and struck out five in his outing, which was highlighted by a fiery plea to manager John Schneider to remain in the game in the fifth inning. With two outs and a runner on in the fifth, Schneider jogged out to the mound apparently considering a pitching change with the top of the order due back up. But the 41-year-old barked at his manager and appeared to tell him “Let’s go” in an effort to remain in the game. After Schneider obliged, Scherzer struck out Randy Arozarena to end the threat and preserve the Blue Jays’ lead into the middle innings.
It was Scherzer’s longest postseason outing in four years and was also the best he’s looked in a long time after struggling down the stretch of the regular season and being left off the AL Division Series roster.
The Blue Jays fell behind in the second inning on a home run by Canadian Josh Naylor, but punched back with another two-run shot by Gimenez an inning later, his second in as many games. They would add a third run in the inning in the process of chasing Seattle starter Luis Castillo after just seven outs.
Toronto pushed across two more runs in the fourth and after the Mariners got one back in the sixth to make it 5-2, star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave the Jays some insurance with his fifth home run of the postseason. Gimenez added a two-run single in the eighth inning as the Jays took a six-run lead and put things out of reach for good.
Kevin Gausman will go for the Blue Jays in Game 5 Friday night, while right-hander Bryce Miller will counter for Seattle. The pitching matchup is a rematch of Game 1 Sunday in Toronto, which Seattle won 3-1.
