Baseball

Blue Jays face elimination (and George Springer injured)
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Blue Jays face elimination (and George Springer injured)
Credit: MLB

Tonight, the Blue Jays and Mariners crossed swords in Seattle in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. At stake? A 3-2 series lead.

The Mariners quickly took the lead. Eugenio Suarez hit a solo home run in the second inning.

After that, the Blue Jays' lack of opportunism was glaring. In particular, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hurt his club in the third by getting pinch-hit at second base on a double play (on an Andres Gimenez dart) that hurt.

What a play by Josh Naylor.

In the fourth, with the bases loaded, the visiting club failed to score. But in the fifth, George Springer found a way to score Addison Barger via a double… when the reliever had already arrived.

And in the sixth, Ernie Clement drove in Alejandro Kirk to make it 2-1 in favor of the Blue Jays. That was against Bryan Woo, who pitched (in relief) for the first time in the 2025 series.

After that, the game took a disastrous turn. George Springer was forced to leave the game because he was shot in the knee. He really looked like he was in pain.

Joey Loperfido took his place, making his playoff debut.

Then, in the eighth, John Schneider tried to reinvent baseball by bringing his left-hander into the game (Brendon Little) only for Cal Raleigh and Jorge Polanco to strike out on the wrong side.

He should have concentrated on Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez as Raleigh hit a home run… the next three batters reached base… and Eugenio Suarez made it 6-2 – even before the first out in the eighth – via a grand slam against Seranthony Dominguez.

We don't know how the manager can justify this, but it had the effect of seeing the Blue Jays lose 6-2 without the club's closer being able to make a difference.

The Blue Jays now face elimination for the first time this season. To advance to the World Series, they will have to beat the Mariners twice in Toronto: on Sunday with Trey Yesavage on the mound and on Monday, in a possible Game #7.

PMLB
  • Ark.

  • Joe Torre helps the Brewers.

  • Elly De La Cruz at shortstop to stay?

This content was created with the help of AI.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!