Don’t look now, but the Blue Jays are back in the driver’s seat.
All it took was giving the ball to a three-time Cy Young award winner, and letting the offense do the rest of the work. Max Scherzer, pitching for the first time in three weeks, made a legendary start in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. That gutsy performance from the future Hall of Famer had a ripple effect. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slugged his fifth home run of the postseason. No. 9 hitter Andres Gimenez collected four RBIs. The Jays’ lineup flooded the basepaths all night.
Given the confident way the Blue Jays have been playing at T-Mobile Park, it’s almost hard to believe they flew to Seattle being down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series. Now, no matter what happens in Friday’s Game 5, they have forced the series to go back to Toronto. How far will their resiliency take them?
Here are my takeaways from the Jays’ 8-2 win over the Mariners:
1. Giménez on a heater
Who’s more clutch than Andres Giménez right now? The Blue Jays shortstop clobbered a home run for the second straight day in Game 4 of the ALCS. And just like his first one, Thursday night’s shot was a two-run homer that eliminated the Blue Jays’ one-run deficit against the Mariners. Giménez worked a tough, eight-pitch at-bat against Luis Castillo before skying an 85 mph slider over the fence in right field.
Astonishingly, Giménez is very much not a home-run hitter. In fact, his offense will likely never catch up to the wizardry he executes with his glove. Giménez, only starting at shortstop because of Bo Bichette’s nagging injury, recorded just seven home runs this season, and three of those came in his first five games of the year. He posted an OPS+ of 66, which indicates he’s 34 points worse than a league-average hitter. But none of that matters right now. Giménez is taking the Blue Jays off the ALCS mat.
“He’s just taking really aggressive swings right now,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. “Understanding what the situation is calling for.”
(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
2. Nayls gets M’s going
A day after delighting Seattle natives by rocking a throwback Kevin Durant SuperSonics jersey, Josh Naylor got another bucket when he sent his second home run of the postseason to the center-field bleachers. Naylor was all over a Max Scherzer changeup to lead off the second inning. It was his second hit in six career at-bats against the veteran pitcher. Naylor’s solo shot gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead before the Blue Jays offense erased it in the next inning.
But Naylor’s homer underlined how much he has meant to the Mariners since they acquired him in a midseason trade from the Diamondbacks. The first baseman has fit right into the clubhouse, and Mariners fans are eager to see the 28-year-old re-sign with Seattle this offseason, when Naylor will become a free agent.
3. Mad Max did what?!
Max Scherzer took the mound for his ALCS Game 4 start with people doubting whether he could really put together another strong outing in October. After all, he entered Thursday — which was his 500th career start, including the playoffs — with a 8.79 ERA in his last four postseason starts. He hadn’t recorded a win in October since Game 1 of the 2019 World Series as the ace of the Nationals rotation. There was reason to be skeptical.
Man, does Scherzer love proving everyone wrong.
The 41-year-old right-hander pitched deeper into Game 4 than even his manager expected, tossing 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball while striking out five batters across 87 pitches. He also picked a runner off first base for the first time in nine years. Scherzer, the first pitcher in MLB history to start a postseason game for six different teams, eventually screamed at John Schneider to go back into the dugout when the skipper came out to check on him in the fifth inning. He rewarded that trust by whiffing Randy Arozarena on a nasty curveball. Pure old-school dominance from Mad Max.
4. Seattle pitching falters
Luis Castillo was asked to get the Mariners back in the win column. Instead, he recorded the shortest start in his playoff career. The right-hander was pulled after just 2 ⅓ innings on Thursday after he coughed up three earned runs to the pesky Blue Jays offense. It wasn’t at all what manager Dan Wilson expected from Castillo, who entered the day with a 1.40 ERA in five career postseason outings.
But this has been an unorthodox postseason for Castillo. In Game 5 of the ALDS vs. Detroit, he entered the game in the top of the 14th inning and retired all four batters he faced in his first career MLB relief appearance (regular season or postseason). Due to that emergency outing from the ‘pen, his Game 4 start was the first time he faced the Blue Jays in this ALCS. It’s fair to wonder whether that short, 15-pitch outing against the Tigers messed up his routine ahead of Game 4. Either way, the Blue Jays gave him no breathing room.
4 ½. What’s next?
Now that the Blue Jays have evened the series, the momentum is back on their side, and they look poised to win yet another road game at T-Mobile Park. But they’ll have to go through Bryce Miller first, and the right-hander was terrific in his Game 1 start against the Jays on Sunday at the Rogers Centre, holding them to one run on two hits over six innings. It’ll be righty Kevin Gausman toeing the rubber for Toronto, and he’ll hope to go deeper into his outing on Friday night than his quicker hook in Game 1.
“Anytime you’re pitching the biggest game of the season up to that point you feel really honored that you’re getting the ball, and excited,” Gausman said. “There’s definitely some jitters, but that’s part of the game. I mean, this is what we live for.” (edited)
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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