Scherzer turns back the clock and
Blue Jays beat Mariners 8-2 in Game 4 to even ALCS
[October 17, 2025]
By ANDREW DESTIN
SEATTLE (AP) — Mad Max had nearly a month to fume, seethe and boil
as he waited for his October opportunity.
Finally given the ball in the playoffs, he shut down the Seattle
Mariners — and his own manager, too.
A fiery Scherzer turned back the clock with his vintage pitching
performance and Andrés Giménez homered and drove in four runs as the
Toronto Blue Jays beat Seattle 8-2 on Thursday to even the American
League Championship Series at two games apiece.
The 41-year-old Scherzer, left off the Division Series roster
against the New York Yankees while dealing with neck pain, showed he
still had plenty left in the tank by allowing two runs in 5 2/3
innings.
“This is what you play for,” Scherzer said. “You work so hard the
whole year, make all the sacrifices, put all the work in to get to
this moment to have these types of moments to be able to win in the
postseason.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his fifth playoff homer 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 earned his eighth postseason win and first since the 2019
World Series for Washington against Houston. Making his 500th major
league start, regular season and postseason combined, he became the
oldest pitcher to start a postseason game since Jamie Moyer was 45
with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 World Series.
Moyer, who spent 11 years with the Mariners from 1996-2006, threw
out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday.
Scherzer yielded three hits, one of which was a solo home run by
Josh Naylor in the second inning. But the veteran right-hander
settled in from there, even picking a runner off first base for the
first time since 2013, and was not removed until manager John
Schneider’s second mound visit.
With two outs in the fifth, Schneider approached Scherzer on the
field and the three-time Cy Young Award winner told his skipper — in
no uncertain terms — he had no interest in coming out of the game at
that point.
“I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. He locked eyes
with me, both colors, as I walked out,” Schneider said with a smile.
“He has this Mad Max persona, but he backed it up tonight.”
Scherzer said he was busy thinking about the sequence of pitches he
wanted to throw to Randy Arozarena.
“And all of a sudden I see Schneids coming out and it kind of caught
me off guard," Scherzer explained. "That’s just one of those moments
where I know I wanted the ball. I knew the situation of the game. I
wanted the ball and I basically told him that in a little bit
different language.”
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer throws against the Seattle
Mariners during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's American
League Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Seattle. (AP
Photo/Abbie Parr)
Schneider left Scherzer in and the eight-time
All-Star promptly struck out Arozarena swinging at a curveball.
“When a Hall of Famer like this tells you he’s good, you ought to
leave him in the game,” Guerrero said. “And he showed he’s good.”
It was one of five strikeouts for Scherzer, who pounded his glove in
excitement.
“I tried to stay away from him,” teammate George Springer said. “You
don’t really want to get in Max’s way, so you kind of just let Max
be Max. It was entertaining, for sure.”
Said Schneider: “I’ve been waiting for that all year, for Max to
yell at me on the mound. I think at that point there’s numbers,
there’s projections, there’s strategy, and there’s people. So I was
trusting people.”
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 it didn't relinquish. The Blue Jays
tacked on another run in the inning when reliever Gabe Speier walked
in a run.
Toronto added to its advantage in the fourth on an RBI double from
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 in the seventh off Eduard Bazardo.
Guerrero leads the majors with five homers in these playoffs —
breaking the Blue Jays record for one postseason that he had shared
with José Bautista (2015).
Giménez provided more insurance in the eighth with a two-run single
up the middle that deflected off reliever Emerson Hancock’s glove.
Up next
Miller has a 2.61 ERA in two playoff starts this October while
Gausman, a two-time All-Star, is 1-3 with a 4.14 ERA in 10 career
postseason games.
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