Article: Blue Jays-Yankees ALDS Game 4: All Hands On Deck To Eliminate the Yankees

[Mike LeSage]

It started as a tight game in both directions, with the lowest-scoring first six innings of the series.

To that point, the Jays had used five pitchers in their planned bullpen game: Louis Varland, Mason Fluharty, Seranthony Domínguez, Eric Lauer and Yariel Rodríguez. The only blemish was a solo home run surrendered by Fluharty to Yankees lefty third baseman Ryan McMahon. All things considered, the pitch from Fluharty wasn’t bad: a sweeper away in the lefty/lefty matchup that McMahon was able to sit back on and get enough of a barrel on to put it into the stands. The only other hit given up by Toronto pitching was a first-inning single to Aaron Judge. You could argue that manager John Schneider was being overly aggressive with his bullpen management, but you couldn’t argue with the results. 

The Yankees, meanwhile, had only used one pitcher. Cam Schlittler scattered seven hits through six innings, and the Jays had been able to manufacture two runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s single drove in George Springer from second base in the first inning, and then Springer followed up in the fifth with a sac fly to bring home Ernie Clement. Then came the seventh inning…

The top of the seventh began like few of the previous innings, with a Blue Jays out; Toronto had put the lead runner on in four of the first six innings previously. Anthony Santander’s foul out was followed by an Ernie Clement single – his ninth hit of the series. Andrés Giménez was next to the plate, and it appeared that his 88-mph grounder up the middle (a ball that Schlittler waved at, but pulled his glove back on) would lead to an inning-ending double play. Instead, the final hop of the ball caught Jazz Chisholm Jr. off guard, and he deflected the ball into centre field.

The inning continued, and Schlittler was lifted after 88 pitches as the Yankees turned to their 'pen. Giménez stole second on a Devin Williams strikeout of Springer, which put runners on second and third with Nathan Lukes coming to the plate. Lukes didn’t see a pitch in the zone, but it didn’t matter. He took an elevated fastball and sent it into centre field. His single cashed in both runs and provided the game with its largest win probability added jump to that point, by a wide margin: 18.1% in favour of the Jays, bringing their overall game win expectancy to 89%.

The bottom of the seventh brought the Jays' sixth pitcher of the game, Brendon Little. A leadoff walk to Paul Goldschmidt and a two-out single to Amed Rosario brought a bit of drama. Two runners on, Trent Grisham at the plate and the fearsome Judge in the on-deck circle representing the potential go-ahead run. Little was able to induce a pop-up into foul territory, and the Jays escaped the inning with a 4-1 lead.

Alejandro Kirk led off the eighth with a double and tagged up to move to third on a deep fly ball to right field by Daulton Varsho. Then it was Myles Straw’s turn to stir the drink. Having entered the game as a defensive substitution for Santander, Straw was able to get his bat on a slider down in the zone and sent it into right field to bring home Kirk. 5-1 Jays.

Braydon Fisher came in for the bottom of the eighth and started off hot, getting Judge to strike out on five pitches. He then got Cody Bellinger to pop out, but a single to Giancarlo Stanton and a walk to Chisholm made things a little tense again. John Schneider then turned to his eighth pitcher of the game, closer Jeff Hoffman. The Hoff walked Ben Rice to load the bases, and an entire fan base suddenly flashed to a worst-case scenario. Instead, a fly out to Straw in left ended the inning, and a stream of Yankees fans started their exit from the stadium.

Nathan Lukes led off the ninth with a double; it was the sixth time the Jays started an inning with a leadoff hit. A groundout and two K’s would strand Lukes and take us to the bottom of the ninth, where a couple of hits and a run scored by the Yankees were filed into the ‘too little, too late’ bin. Hoffman, while not looking the most dialed in we’ve seen him, got the job done, striking out Bellinger to end the game and send the Jays to the ALCS. They will host either Seattle or Detroit on Thanksgiving weekend at the Rogers Centre.

There were mixed feelings around the Blue Jays fan community as Game 4 was telegraphed to be a bullpen game. Only three starters made the roster for the ALDS, and two of those starters, Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage, made mid-game trips to the bullpen ‘just in case.’ Ultimately, they weren’t called on, but they were there and they were ready.

The eight pitchers that were used put up a pitching line to be proud of: 9 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 10 K. Every single one of those guys deserves praise. Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker get some shine too. Like I said at the top, you might not have agreed with their moves, but we can’t argue with the results. The Jays have talked all season about what a close-knit group they’ve become, and they used the ultimate team game to advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2016. 

I’m not leaving out praise for the bats either; it was a team effort on the other side of the ball. Twelve hits for the team. Eight out of nine spots in the order got at least one knock. In an alternate timeline, we might bemoan the team's 3-for-17 showing with runners in scoring position, or the nine runners left on base, but they did enough. With four hits and three runs from the bottom of the order, a Jays team that proved itself relentless with no easy sections of the order made each at-bat count and secured the win.

Nineteen Blue Jays appeared in this game, and they all had a hand in getting to this point and moving on. Like John Schneider said in his post-game celebration speech: Start spreading the news, bitches!

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[Jesse Burrill]

The House that Jeter built became the one that Vladdy tore down, pumps me up so much