SEATTLE — So far, home-field advantage hasn’t meant much in this American League Championship Series — and the Blue Jays couldn’t be happier about it.
Toronto’s 8-2 win over the Mariners in Thursday’s Game 4 at T-Mobile Park continued the trend of road teams winning every matchup so far, pulling the ALCS even at two games apiece.
Fueled by a vintage performance by 41-year-old Max Scherzer and yet another timely Andrés Giménez homer, the Blue Jays quieted the crowd for a second consecutive evening while ensuring this series will return to Canada with everything still up for grabs.
Making the 500th start of his career (regular season and postseason combined), Scherzer rolled back the clock, his effort best encapsulated by a fifth-inning snapshot that showcased his “Mad Max” persona.
One out shy of qualifying for a victory, Scherzer snarled and shouted emphatically during a visit from manager John Schneider, who left the right-hander in the game. Scherzer responded by striking out Randy Arozarena on a curveball in the dirt, punctuating it with a roar and a fist pump.
“It was a two-out situation; I just checked the board, my arm felt great,” Scherzer said. “In my head, I was going through my sequencing of how I wanted to pitch Randy. I see Schneids coming out, it caught me off guard. That’s just one of those moments where I knew I wanted the ball. I knew the situation of the game, I wanted the ball and I basically told him that in a little bit different language.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched a seventh-inning homer to pad Toronto’s advantage — Guerrero’s fifth home run this postseason, breaking a tie with José Bautista (2015) for the most in a single playoff run by a Blue Jays player.
Teams to lose Games 1-2 but then win Games 3-4 in any best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win that series 10 of 23 times (43.5%). In series with the current 2-3-2 format that have been tied after Game 4, the team playing Game 5 on the road has taken the series 34 of 60 times (56.7%).
As in Game 3, the Mariners struck first, with Josh Naylor lifting a Scherzer changeup for a second-inning home run — Seattle’s eighth homer of this ALCS.
But once again, the bottom of Toronto’s order sparked a third-inning outburst. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a double and Giménez followed by hammering a Luis Castillo slider over the right-field wall.
Two hits and a walk prompted an exit for Castillo, with Gabe Speier inheriting a bases-loaded, one-out jam. It was a surprisingly early hook for Castillo, who had been 4-0 with an 0.86 ERA in six games (five starts) dating to Sept. 7, including the postseason.
The Mariners aligned their rotation around having Castillo start at T-Mobile Park, where his ERA was a full two runs better (2.60) than on the road (4.71), yet he still observed most of Game 4 as a spectator.
Speier lost Daulton Varsho to a full-count walk that forced home Toronto’s third run, then recorded back-to-back strikeouts to escape the inning.
Toronto wasn’t done. Kiner-Falefa opened the fourth with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on George Springer’s double to left field. Matt Brash bounced a slider for a wild pitch that allowed Springer to trot home with Toronto’s fifth run.
Making his first appearance since Sept. 24 due to minor neck and back issues, Scherzer had been throwing simulated games during his downtime, but his sharpness remained a mystery even to his own team.
He quickly erased any doubts, hitting 96.5 mph on a first-inning pitch to Cal Raleigh — Scherzer’s fastest velocity of the season. Getting better as the game went on, Scherzer separated his velocity masterfully, limiting Seattle to three hits and four walks while striking out five.
He exited after a two-out walk to Jorge Polanco in the sixth, in position to win his first postseason game since Game 1 of the 2019 World Series.
Eugenio Suárez stroked a sixth-inning RBI single facing Mason Fluharty, a run charged to Scherzer, but right fielder Addison Barger threw out Naylor at third base to end the inning.
With the victory, Scherzer became the fourth pitcher to win an ALCS start at age 41 or older, joining Dennis Martinez (Game 6, 1995), Roger Clemens (Game 3, 2003) and Kenny Rogers (Game 3, 2006).
