The Toronto Blue Jays got all 27 outs from their bullpen Wednesday night as they eliminated the New York Yankees and punched their ticket to the American League Championship Series with a 5-2 win.
Without a conventional starting pitcher on the roster available for the fourth game of the series, Toronto went with a combination of eight relievers to hold the Yankees at bay and keep them from forcing a deciding Game 5.
Louis Varland got the start and bounced back nicely from a rough Game 3 that saw him give up a mammoth game-tying home run to Aaron Judge and a go-ahead homer to Jazz Chisholm an inning later in an eventual 9-6 Yankee win. Varland gave the Jays exactly what they needed Wednesday, keeping the Yankees off the scoreboard and retiring four of the six batters he faced with two strikeouts.
Mason Fluharty replaced Varland in the second inning and allowed the only Yankee run of the game on a solo homer from Ryan McMahon. But a combination of Seranthony Dominguez, Eric Lauer, Yariel Rodriguez and Brendon Little were solid over the next four and two-thirds innings to keep the Blue Jays either tied or ahead into the late innings.
Nathan Lukes broke Game 4 open with a two-run single in the seventh to make it 4-1, and then Myles Straw drove in a run in the eighth to give the Jays some extra insurance. It turned out to be all they needed.
Braydon Fisher started the eighth with a strikeout of Judge, but allowed a pair of base runners and was lifted with two outs in the inning in favour of Jeff Hoffman, the last conventional high-leverage reliever the Jays had left in the pen. Hoffman walked Ben Rice but to load the bases but got Austin Wells to fly out to left to end the threat, and put Toronto just three outs away from their first trip to the ALCS since 2016.
Hoffman allowed a double to Jasson Dominguez to start the ninth but settled in to retire the next two hitters. Judge singled in Dominguez to put the Yankees to within three with two outs but Hoffman shut the door shortly after, striking out Cody Bellinger to end the ballgame.
Manager John Schneider told reporters before the game starters Trey Yesavage and Kevin Gausman may be available out of the pen for the Jays Wednesday night. Gausman started Game 1 of the series on Saturday and was likely slated to pitch Game 5 if the Yankees pushed things that far. Yesavage pitched just three days ago and may have also been an option in Game 5 had it been necessary.
The Jays finished 16th in bullpen ERA during the regular season and at times struggled to put games away. That was not the case Wednesday night as Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker pushed all the right buttons to hold the potent Yankees offence to just a pair of runs. All in all, Jays relievers allowed six hits and struck out 10 en route to the win.
Toronto will meet the winner of the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers in the other AL Division Series that is set for a winner-take-all Game 5 Friday night in Seattle. Detroit won Game 4 9-3 on Wednesday to set up the decider and make the Jays wait a few more days to find out who their opponent will be with a trip to the World Series on the line.
