Max Scherzer turned back the clock with a vintage pitching performance and Andrés Giménez homered and drove in four runs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Thursday to even the American League Championship Series at two games apiece.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit his fifth homer this postseason and the 41-year-old Scherzer allowed two runs in five and two-thirds innings for the Blue Jays, who have outscored the Mariners 21-6 in Seattle after losing the first two games at home.
Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Friday, with Kevin Gausman scheduled to start for Toronto against Game 1 winner Bryce Miller.
Scherzer, making his 500th major league start, regular season and postseason combined, became the oldest pitcher to start a postseason game since Jamie Moyer was 45 for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 World Series.
The veteran right-hander yielded three hits, one of which was a solo home run by Josh Naylor in the second inning. Scherzer settled in from there, and was not removed until manager John Schneider’s second mound visit.
With two outs in the fifth, Schneider and Scherzer briefly exchanged words on the mound for the first time, and the three-time Cy Young Award appeared to tell Schneider he wasn’t coming out of the game at that point.
Schneider left Scherzer in and he promptly struck out Randy Arozarena swinging with a curveball, one of a career high-tying six whiffs Scherzer induced with his curve, before pounding his glove in celebration.
The Blue Jays’ offense, meanwhile, picked up where it left off after scoring 13 runs in Game 3. Giménez hit a two-run homer in the third inning for the second consecutive day, this one off starter Luis Castillo to give Toronto a lead they didn’t relinquish. The Blue Jays tacked on another run in the inning chasing Castillo when reliever Gabe Speier walked in a run.
Toronto added to its advantage in the fourth on an RBI double from George Springer, who came around to score on a wild pitch by Matt Brash. Guerrero, who singled earlier in the game, smacked an opposite-field homer to right the seventh off Eduard Bazardo.
Guerrero leads the majors in homers this postseason.
Giménez tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth with a two-run single up the middle that deflected off reliever Emerson Hancock’s glove.
Miller has a 2.61 ERA in two playoff starts this October while Gaustman, a two-time All-Star, is 1-3 with a 4.14 ERA in 10 career postseason games.
