Article: Blue Jays-Mariners ALCS Game 4: It’s All Just a Little Bit of History Repeating

[Mike LeSage]

In our Game 3 recap, I saved Andrés Giménez for last. This time he’s going first. In Game 3, Giménez came to the plate in the third inning for his first plate appearance. The Jays were already trailing. With a teammate on base and none out, Giménez tied the game with one swing of the bat. Game 4, same story – the only difference this time was that Giménez’s two-run homer (+17.7 WPA) gave the Jays the lead instead of just tying the game. He would add another pair of RBI in the eighth inning to extend the Jays' lead to six runs and end the night with the highest win probability added of the game.

Another guy swatting dingers on back-to-back days was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His home run in the seventh inning mirrored his homer from the day before. The difference in Game 4 is that his long ball moved him into sole possession of the top spot for franchise homers in a single postseason. 

Addison Barger’s performance with the bat wasn’t what had people talking, even though his double in the sixth inning was the hardest hit ball of the game. Yet, in this game, it was his glove that made the most noise. Shifting to right field for the first time in almost a month as a result of some roster shuffling due to Anthony Santander’s unavailability, Barger made three highlight-worthy plays. He made a diving catch to his left in the bottom of the seventh to end the inning. He made another great catch ranging to his right to save extra bases in the fifth, but his best work was a quick scoop on a single by Eugenio Suárez and a cannon throw to Ernie Clement at third to catch Josh Naylor, who was trying to go first-to-third on the play. With the lead at 5-1 and the Mariners threatening (Jorge Polanco scored on the play to make it 5-2), Barger's outfield assist ended the sixth inning and stopped the momentum. 

John Schneider went to the bullpen four times to cover three and a third innings of relief, and the arm barn came through. Mason Fluharty, Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Domínguez combined for a line of 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 3 K. Fluharty was first out of the ‘pen and had the shakiest performance of the four, but that outfield assist from Barger helped save that inning from getting out of hand, and then the other three kept it moving to secure the win. Hoffman was called on for the eighth inning to face the top of Seattle's order and sandwiched a Cal Raleigh pop-out between two strikeouts to retire the side in order.

That brings us to Max Scherzer. In the Game 3 recap, I said Scherzer would hope to replicate Shane Bieber’s “this is why they got him” performance, and that’s exactly what he did. Scherzer started the game a little shakily; after recording the first out, he walked the next two batters, but a double play ball got him out of the inning unscathed. In the third, it was a leadoff walk to the #9 hitter, Leo Rivas, that caused some concern. With one out and Raleigh at the plate, Scherzer turned and fired the ball to Guerrero at first, and after a video review, got the second out before striking out Raleigh to end the inning, keeping the Jays' lead at 3-1. Scherzer had five strikeouts over 5.2 innings, which moved him past Roger Clemens into fifth all-time on MLB's postseason strikeout list. Scherzer’s biggest highlight of the game wasn't even something that fully shows up in the box score. When John Schneider came out for a mound visit, Scherzer responded emphatically that he was good to continue and struck out Randy Arozarena to end the fifth inning. Schneider would say in his press conference after the game, “It was awesome. I thought he was going to kill me. It was great.”

For Scherzer, it was his longest postseason outing and marked the most pitches he's thrown in a playoff start since the NLDS in 2021. He has made six other appearances since then. His five strikeouts were his most since the NLCS that same year. His Game Score of 56 was also his best since ‘21 and sixth best in his career for a game in which he earned the win.

This win, most importantly, ties the series back up, turning it into a best-of-three. It also guarantees that the Jays will be coming back to Toronto for at least one more game. They go again tonight in Seattle with a pitching rematch of Game 1: Kevin Gausman vs Bryce Miller. Both teams are now two wins away from a trip to the World Series, and they’ve got three games to figure it out.

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