10/16/25

(Seattle, WA) Home cooking wasn’t so good for the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night as they dropped their first game of the ALCS but still held a 2-1 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays entering game 4 on Thursday night. A lack of stringing hits together and a pitching staff that was shelled by the Jays bats added up to a demoralizing blowout loss. However a sweep was always unlikely and now the M’s entered game 4 trying to keep home field advantage on their side and steal momentum right back.

It would be a battle of veterans on Thursday as Max Scherzer became the oldest pitcher since Jamie Moyer in 2008 to start in a playoff game and pitched for the first time this month. Luis Castillo would counter for Seattle and looked to eat some innings after the bullpen was used heavily just one night prior.

Blue Jays 8, Mariners 2 (Game Four, Series Tied 2-2)

Seattle looked to score in the 1st inning for the third consecutive game and threatened to do just that with walks to Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez to put two on with one out. Jorge Polanco shot a grounder back up the middle but Andrés Giménez was right there to take care of it and turn it into a double play to get Max Scherzer off the hook with no damage done.

A great play by J.P. Crawford helped Luis Castillo strand a two-out single in the top of the 2nd and set the tone for the home half. Josh Naylor would begin the inning and has had a much better ALCS than he did in the ALDS with a lot of personal milestones during the series with Detroit. Leading off the bottom of the 2nd, Naylor took a changeup on the outside corner and turned it into a souvenir for the J-Rod squad out in center. It was Naylor’s second home run of the ALCS and gave the Mariners the first run of the game again and a 1-0 lead.

Once again, the top of the 3rd brought big problems for the Mariners. Luis Castillo ran into some trouble after Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled to begin the inning to put the tying run in scoring position. Andrés Giménez then came to the plate and did exactly what he did in the same situation in Game 3. Giménez went down and took a slider out to right field on the eighth pitch of the AB that just got out for a two-run shot to give the Jays a 2-1 lead. Singles from Nathan Lukes and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were followed by a walk to Alejandro Kirk which ended the night for La Piedra very early. Gabe Speier inherited the bases loaded with one out but walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Daulton Varsho to make it 3-1. He would strikeout the next two batters to minimize the damage but Toronto had taken a 3-1 lead.

Leo Rivas got picked off which killed Seattle’s response in the 3rd and Toronto continued to build momentum into the 4th. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to leadoff the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andrés Giménez. George Springer would then send a liner into left field to bring home IKF with an RBI double has Toronto extended their lead to 4-1. A ground ball and a wild pitch from Matt Brash later and Toronto was running away with a 5-1 lead.

Seattle kept the deficit at four as Carlos Vargas pitched around a leadoff double in the 6th to prevent Toronto from adding on. In the bottom of the 6th with nobody on and two outs, Jorge Polanco drew a walk which ended the night for Max Scherzer after 5 2/3 innings of very strong stuff. Mason Fluharty would walk Josh Naylor to put two on for Eugenio Suárez. Geno fought off a cutter on his hands and sent a soft base hit into right field. Polanco scored, but the throw to third would cut down Naylor to minimize Seattle’s damage. They got one to make it 5-2, but it felt like a missed opportunity for much more.

A solo shot by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got that run right back for Toronto off of Eduard Bazardo to make it 6-2. A great catch by Addison Barger took extra bases away from J.P. Crawford and Toronto landed the knockout blow in the 8th. A single by Ernie Clement and a walk to Addison Barger was followed by a sacrifice bunt for IKF to put two in scoring position. Andrés Giménez would fittingly deal the KO shot with a two-run single back up the middle to open it up to an 8-2 lead. Seattle would only put on one baserunner in the final two innings as Toronto took Game 4, 8-2 to even the series at 2-2.

Notable Performances

Blue Jays

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 3-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Eugenio Suárez- 1-4, RBI
• Luis Castillo (Loss)- 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

What’s Next

Toronto has now taken momentum in the series and taken back home field advantage as the series is guaranteed to go back to Toronto. The series is even at 2-2 and is now virtually a best of three series with game 5 coming on Friday afternoon with a new start time of 3:08pm. A loss for Seattle would give the Jays three-consecutive wins with the series headed back to the Rogers Centre while a win for the Mariners would put them one win away from the World Series for the first time ever.

Seattle announced on Thursday that Bryan Woo will be available out of the bullpen but Bryce Miller will start in game 5. Miller was unbelievable in game 1, going six innings of one-run, two-hit ball while leading the Mariners to a stunning win. He will face the same opposition as Kevin Gausman gets the start for his second outing of the ALCS. Gausman pitched well in the opener but allowed a home run to Cal Raleigh before walking J-Rod and was surprisingly pulled right after. He will look to continue the hot stretch of pitching for Toronto against a struggling Mariner lineup.

MLB Playoff Scores (Thursday Night)

• Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 (Los Angeles leads series 3-0)

MLB Playoff Schedule Friday

• Toronto Blue Jays @ Seattle Mariners (Game 5, 3:08pm)- Kevin Gausman (1-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (1-0, 2.61 ERA)
• Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Game 4, 5:38pm)- TBA vs. Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

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