NEW YORK (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer each drove in a run, and eight Toronto pitchers shut down the New York Yankees in a 5-2 victory Wednesday night that sent the Blue Jays to the American League Championship Series for the first time in nine years.
Nathan Lukes provided a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the pesky Blue Jays, fouling off tough pitches and consistently putting the ball in play, bounced right back after blowing a five-run lead in Tuesday night’s loss at Yankee Stadium.
AL East champion Toronto took the best-of-five Division Series 3-1 and will host Game 1 in the best-of-seven ALCS on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers or Seattle Mariners.
Those teams are set to decide their playoff series Friday in Game 5 at Seattle.
Ryan McMahon homered for the wild-card Yankees, unable to stave off elimination for a fourth time this postseason as they failed to repeat as AL champions.
Despite a terrific playoff performance from Aaron Judge following his previous October troubles, the 33-year-old star slugger remains without a World Series ring. New York is still chasing its 28th title and first since 2009.
TIGERS 9, MARINERS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Riley Greene and Javier Báez homered in a four-run sixth inning and Detroit kept their season alive with a win over Seattle in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
The Tigers forced a Game 5 by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in more than a month. They went 0-8 after Tarik Skubal’s 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 6, including on Tuesday.
The series decider will be Friday in Seattle, with Skubal facing George Kirby.
After Detroit tied the game with three runs in the fifth, Greene gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage with a leadoff homer off Gabe Speier in the sixth.
Spencer Torkelson followed with a double and scored Detroit’s fifth run on Zach McKinstry’s single before Báez made it 7-3 with his sixth postseason homer.
Gleyber Torres became the third Tigers All-Star to homer when he led off the seventh with a shot to right before Báez’s eighth-inning groundout brought in Detroit’s ninth run.
Troy Melton, Detroit’s Game 1 starter, picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking two-run single and Chicago avoided a sweep by holding off Milwaukee for a victory in Game 3 of their NL Division Series.
Crow-Armstrong’s two-out swing was part of a four-run first inning for Chicago — continuing a wild trend. Michael Busch kicked off the rally by becoming the first player in major league history with in a single postseason series.
The matchup of NL Central rivals is the first postseason series in which both teams scored in the first in each of the first three games.
Jake Bauers rallied Milwaukee with an RBI single in the fourth and a leadoff drive in the seventh. He started at first base in place of Andrew Vaughn, who hit a three-run homer in the Brewers’ in Game 2 on Monday night.
Milwaukee loaded the bases in the eighth, but Brad Keller escaped the jam when he struck out Bauers swinging. Keller then retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.
PHILLIES 8, DODGERS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — homered twice, his first towering shot clearing the right-field pavilion in a three-run fourth inning, and Philadelphia avoided a sweep with a victory over Los Angeles in Game 3 of their NL Division Series.
It was the first Schwarbomb of the postseason for the and the first allowed by the Dodgers in these playoffs. Schwarber snapped an 0-for-8 skid in the NLDS, slugging a 96-mph fastball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto 455 feet.
Schwarber became just the second player to homer over the pavilion, joining Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell, who did it in 1969 and 1973. Fans standing near the back railing pointed as the ball went out.
Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
After Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola pitched the first two innings, Ranger Suárez came in and allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
The Phillies tacked on five more runs in the eighth — including a solo shot by J.T. Realmuto and a two-run drive by Schwarber — off three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw in his first postseason relief appearance since 2019.
Six of the Phillies’ 12 hits came off Kershaw in his 18th and final season with the Dodgers before retiring at season’s end.
