A late-game offensive rally by the Mariners led Seattle to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays during Game 5 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) on Friday.
The Mariners now hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, and the Blue Jays are on the brink of postseason elimination as they return to Toronto for a must-win Game 6 on Sunday.
Starter Kevin Gausman had put the Blue Jays in good position to win, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run (a solo home run by Eugenio Suárez, who would later torch the Blue Jays again) and striking out four batters.
The Blue Jays offense began to pick up in the fifth, when George Springer’s RBI double tied the game at 1-1. They took the lead in the next inning when Ernie Clement’s RBI single scored Alejandro Kirk.
Although they weren’t hitting the long bombs that have defined the last two games, the Blue Jays were still putting runners on, with several batters throughout the night reaching base with doubles.
Springer’s departure
But the team seemed taken aback by Springer’s sudden exit in the seventh inning after a pitch hit him in the knee.
After the game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters that the Toronto slugger had “a contusion on his right knee” and said he had undergone X-rays.
“George is as tough as they come,” Schneider said. “And I think he’s going to have to be really hurt to not be in the lineup on Sunday.”
But on Friday, things really fell apart for the Blue Jays when Seattle slugger Cal Raleigh hit a solo home run off Toronto reliever Brendon Little just after entering the game in the eighth inning.
That tied the game, erasing the slim 2-1 lead the Blue Jays had clung to for several innings.
Little then walked consecutively before being thrown by Schneider, who brought in Seranthony Dominguez to try to stop the bleeding.
But he hit the next batter, Randy Arozarena, to load the bases before allowing a grand slam to Suarez, making the score 6-2.
And that’s where he would stay to finish the game, as the Blue Jays couldn’t get anything going in the ninth.
‘Great at-bats’ for Mariners
“Those are huge at-bats to get on base and get something going there,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said after the game, referring to the Seattle players who loaded the bases before the grand slam.
After the game, Schneider was asked about the decision to bring in Little, instead of other bullpen options.
“I wanted to see some of the lineup look at different guys,” the Blue Jays captain said, adding that Little had pitched in important spots for the team in the past.
“Everything is magnified this time of year. Decisions are magnified, proposals are magnified,” Schneider said.
“But these guys will recover, everyone on our team will recover.”
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke about his call to start reliever Brendon Little in the eighth inning. The Blue Jays lost 6-2 to the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Friday and trail 3-2 in the series.
The series returns to Toronto
The series returns to Toronto’s Rogers Center for Game 6 on Sunday, with rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage getting the critical start for the Blue Jays.
If they can pull off a win and force a seventh game, that final game will be played Monday, also in Toronto.
The winner of the American League Championship Series will advance to the World Series, a stage Toronto last reached in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Seattle has never been part of the Fall Classic.
Dodgers sweep Brewers
Whoever wins the American League Championship Series will advance to the World Series to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Friday night in Game 4, completing a 4-0 sweep of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers have won two of the last five World Series.
