5 Blue Jays to blame for heartbreaking ALCS Game 5 defeat

After falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven ALCS, the Toronto Blue Jays fought back to even things up against the Seattle Mariners at two wins apiece. What was a best-of-seven was now a best-of-three set to begin on Friday with Game 5 from T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners, as they had done in Games 3 and 4, hit a home run to take an early lead, but the Blue Jays, as they had done in Games 3 and 4, punched back to take the lead. They led 2-1 after seven, with Kevin Gausman and Louis Varland keeping this high-powered Mariners offense at bay.

In the eighth inning, though, the tides turned in Seattle's favor. Cal Raleigh tied the game with a booming home run, and later in the frame, Eugenio Suarez came through with one of the biggest hits in Mariners history, launching a grand slam to give Seattle a lead it would not relinquish.

The series is far from over, especially with the scene set to shift back to Toronto for the final two games, but this was a missed opportunity for the Jays. If they lose this series, blowing this game will be something fans look back on for quite some time. These five Blue Jays deserve most of the blame for Friday's heartbreaking defeat.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

3B Ernie Clement

The Blue Jays only scored two runs in this game, but had seven hits, drew four walks, and were hit by a pitch. They had a ton of chances to score runs, but they went just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight base runners. Ernie Clement is responsible for a chunk of the clutch-hitting issues.

The third baseman has had a monstrous postseason, but came up short in Game 5. To his credit, he did give the Jays the lead with a go-ahead hit in the sixth inning, but earlier in the game, he had a chance to put his mark on the contest and failed to do so.

With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning, Clement hit a dribbler about an inch in front of the plate, and Cal Raleigh turned that into a routine double play. Bad luck? Sure. The result still really stung. There were many ways Clement could've at the very least tied the game, but instead, he completely ended the rally.

OF Daulton Varsho

Clement is responsible for the second and third out of that failed rally, but Daulton Varsho is responsible for the first, and perhaps most crushing out of that inning. Varsho, an outfielder responsible for several key hits this postseason, was the one who came up with the bases loaded and nobody out. He struck out on a splitter in the dirt.

It's tough to lay off any splitter with that much movement, and Miller did a nice job changing eye levels, but there's simply no excuse for a strikeout in that spot. The Jays would've tied the game even if Varsho grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but the last thing they could afford in that spot was what happened.

Clement, at least somewhat, made up for his double play later in the game. Varsho, on the other hand, went 0-for-4 and even recorded another out in his next at-bat with a runner in scoring position. He's been great, but it's hard to let him off the hook for Game 5 specifically.

RHP Seranthony Dominguez

Seranthony Dominguez was put into the stickiest of situations in this game. The Mariners tied the game in the eighth and had two runners on base with nobody out by the time Dominguez's number was called. Few expected Dominguez to keep the game tied, but the one thing he really couldn't afford to do was let it get out of hand. Dominguez was unable to do that.

He hit the first batter he faced, Randy Arozarena, with a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. The next batter he faced, Eugenio Suarez, provided the keynote by hitting a grand slam. Allowing a run in that spot would've been understandable, but allowing four runs in that spot was unacceptable.

Dominguez was able to retire the side in order after that, but the damage had been done. Coming back from one or even two runs down would've been somewhat possible, but coming back from four runs down in one inning all but ended the game right there. Dominguez had to be better in that spot.

LHP Brendon Little

To be perfectly clear, there was absolutely no reason for Brendon Little to be put into the situation he was. John Schneider asked Little, a left-handed reliever who has been unreliable for months, to protect a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning with Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, and Josh Naylor due up. It felt like a mistake before Little even threw a pitch, but that doesn't excuse Little for struggling as mightily as he did.

Little, predictably, fell behind Raleigh 2-0 and grooved a sinker for the AL MVP candidate to launch. He did just that, launching that 93.5 mph pitch over the left-field wall for a game-tying home run. Allowing a home run to Raleigh really stung in that spot, but doing that and getting out of the frame unscathed after would've, at least, given the Jays a path to winning this game.

Instead, Little issued back-to-back free passes to Polanco and Naylor, giving the Mariners two men on base with nobody out. They were gifted a prime opportunity to re-take the lead and win the game, and they did just that. Sure, Dominguez should've done better with the runners he inherited, but Little facing three batters and retiring none of them is on him. He couldn't throw strikes, and one of the few he did left the yard. Just a putrid outing, and one that'll be hard to forget anytime soon for Jays fans if they lose this series.

Manager John Schneider

Normally, I try really hard to avoid blaming managers or coaches for losses. At the end of the day, there's only so much they can control — the players on the field dictate the final results. For Game 5, though, I don't know how John Schneider can't be blamed. His job is to put his team in the best position to succeed. He did not do that with his bullpen management.

To be clear, it wasn't all atrocious. I was fine with him pulling Kevin Gausman after 5.2 innings, and I was fine with Louis Varland being the first man out of the 'pen. What I was not fine with, though, was how he managed the eighth inning. I thought it was a mess from start to finish.

The Blue Jays led 2-1 to begin the bottom of the eighth, and the Mariners had Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor due up. Schneider, inexplicably, went to Brendon Little, a reliever who has struggled mightily for a while now, over Jeff Hoffman, their closer, or even a guy like Dominguez with the bases empty.

Not only has Little been unusable for a while, but he was tasked to face three hitters who hit left-handed pitching well, two of whom hit lefties better than righties.

In the highest-leverage spot, there's no reason not to use your best reliever, save opportunity or not. Facing the 2-3-4 part of the lineup in the eighth inning of a one-run game was undoubtedly a high-leverage situation. Hoffman should've been used in that spot, and if it wasn't going to be Hoffman, for whatever reason, it should've been Dominguez.

And if Schneider was dead-set on using a lefty in that inning, why not Mason Fluharty, the real top left-handed relief option? I would've even gone to Eric Lauer before Little, who Schneider also went to and lost a game with earlier in this series.

It's one thing to lose. It's another to lose a tight game without firing your best bullet. Turning to Dominguez, a reliever who struggles to throw strikes, after Little's implosion with men on base, was just the icing on the cake in the worst inning of Schneider's career.