SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 16: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning in game four of the American League Championship Series at T-Mobile P … (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - Any momentum the Seattle Mariners felt leaving Toronto up 2-0 in the ALCS feels like a distant memory.
The Blue Jays chased Mariners starter Luis Castillo in the third inning, Andrés Giménez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the second straight night, and an 8-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday night has evened the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," catcher Cal Raleigh said. "It’s just about keeping a level head, understanding you don’t get too high, don’t get too low and that it’s now a best-of-three."
The lineup of the Blue Jays is plenty good enough with Guerrero, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk doing the damage at the top of the lineup. When the bottom of the order contributes as well, they can look unbeatable.
"Obviously, we wanted to get a couple of wins here in the series at home," manager Dan Wilson said. "We haven’t been able to do that. But tomorrow we have a chance to bounce back, and that’s where our focus is going forward."
Batting ninth in the order, Giménez delivered a two-run home run for the second straight game that sparked a tidal wave of offense from Seattle's Canadian counterparts.
Giménez drove in four runs for Toronto as the Blue Jays have carved up Seattle's starting pitching in each of the last two games at T-Mobile Park. And they did despite the fact the Mariners jumped out to the early lead.
"It was kind of just kind of what we do," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Josh Naylor hammered a changeup from Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer left over the outside edge of the plate to center field, just sailing beyond the glove of Daulton Varsho and the wall for a solo home run and a 1-0 Mariners lead in the second inning.
It was the third straight game that the Mariners took an early lead via a home run. Julio Rodriguez hit a three-run home run in the first inning of Game 2, and a two-run blast in the first inning of Game 3.
Unfortunately, what followed for Seattle was similar to the Game 3 variety. Almost exactly, in fact.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa battled in an eight-pitch at-bat with Castillo to double inside the line at third base to lead off the third inning for Toronto. Then, just as he did on Wednesday night in Game 3, Giménez hit a two-run home run to right field on a Castillo slider left in the middle of the plate.
Giménez homered with no outs in the third inning off George Kirby in game 3 that kick-started Toronto's offense in a 13-4 romp for the Blue Jays. His homer on Thursday night did so yet again.
Nathan Lukes and Guerrero Jr. delivered one-out singles as Gabe Speier began to warm up in Seattle's bullpen. A walk to Kirk loaded the bases and ended the outing early for Castillo after just 2 ⅓ innings pitched.
Varsho worked a walk against Speier to score Lukes for a 3-1 Blue Jays lead, but Speier struck out Ernie Clement swinging, and Addison Barger looking to escape further damage for Seattle.
Castillo allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and one strikeout before Wilson went to the bullpen.
"We had the ability tonight to be aggressive with the bullpen, and in that situation, Gabe was ready to go, and it was a good matchup for us and we felt like that was a time to go," Wilson said of the early move with Castillo.
"I think you make tough decisions, and that was a tough one, for sure."
Kiner-Falefa's bloop single to open the fourth inning led to more offense for the Jays. After a sacrifice bunt from Giménez, Dan Wilson left the left-handed Speier in to face the right-handed George Springer at the top of Toronto's lineup.
Springer won the matchup, doubling to left field to score Kiner-Falefa for a 4-1 lead. A groundout from Lukes moved Springer to third as Wilson turned to Matt Brash in relief. But a wild pitch from Brash allowed Springer to score for a 5-1 Toronto advantage.
After Naylor's home run in the second inning, the Mariners put just three more runners on base against Scherzer through five innings.
Naylor singled in the fourth inning, Leo Rivas walked (and was picked off) in the third, and Dominic Canzone singled to lead-off the fifth. Barger did take away two potential hits from Rivas with a running catch in the right-center field gap, and a diving catch down the right field line, which highlighted Toronto's strong defensive performance all season.
A two-out walk of Jorge Polanco in the sixth finally ended Scherzer's outing as Schneider turned to left-hander Mason Fluharty to face the left-handed Naylor.
Naylor walked against Fluharty to put two runners on and Eugenio Suárez delivered an RBI single to right field that scored Polanco to cut the Toronto lead to 5-2. However, the Blue Jays got the trail runner in Naylor at third base to end the Seattle threat.
"Vintage Max," shortstop J.P. Crawford said of the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer. "He had all of his pitches working and had us fooled."
"I think he made some pitches when he had to in some key situations," Wilson added. "We were able to get some traffic going, but nothing that we were able to drive that guy in. And just, again, he made a couple -- he got himself out of a couple situations and that was the story for tonight."
It was a poor offensive performance for the Mariners given Scherzer's recent performances to close the season.
Scherzer had allowed at least four runs in each of his final six starts to close out the regular season for the Blue Jays. He allowed seven runs on seven hits in just ⅔ innings pitched in a 20-1 Toronto loss to the Kansas City Royals on September 19, and four runs on 10 hits in a 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on September 24. That was his last outing ahead of Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday night.
"It's what you play the game for," Scherzer said. "You're in the biggest moment of the season right now. These games are must-win, every single one of 'em, and when you get success, it's great. This is what you play for. You work so hard the whole year, make all the sacrifices, put all the work in to get to this moment to have these type of moments to be able to win in the postseason.
"So it's just a great effort by our team all the way around, our offense, our defense, our relievers, everybody contributed tonight and that's what makes it special."
Giving away outs on the Rivas pick-off and Naylor being thrown out at third certainly didn't help.
"I think we tend to be aggressive. Sometimes when we're aggressive, it can backfire," Wilson said.
Meanwhile, Guerrero Jr. quickly restored the four-run cushion with one swing in the seventh.
Guerrero crushed a 1-1 sinker on the outer edge of the plate from Eduard Bazardo to right field, sailing over the glove of a leaping Dominic Canzone at the wall for a solo home run and a 6-2 Blue Jays lead.
Giménez then delivered two more runs for the Blue Jays in the eighth.
Clement singled and Barger walked to put two runners on with no outs against Emerson Hancock. A sacrifice bunt by Kiner-Falefa advanced the runners into scoring position for Toronto. Giménez's shot up the middle glanced off the glove of Hancock and died in shallow center field against a drawn-in infield, which allowed both runners to score for an 8-2 Blue Jays lead.
The Blue Jays finished with 11 hits and eight runs in Game 4 after pounding 18 hits for 13 runs in Game 3.
"I think our guys have thrown the ball well all season long and have done that," Wilson said. "This is two good teams going at it. This is what the Championship Series is all about. We will make our adjustments and continue to do that and continue to do the things that we do that make us successful as well."
Bryce Miller gets the ball for Seattle in Game 5 on Friday afternoon. In a rematch of the Game 1 pitching matchup, Kevin Gausman gets the start for the Blue Jays as one team will return to Toronto with a 3-2 series lead.
"Got to win tomorrow. Simple as that," Crawford said.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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