The Blue Jays have Little separation in Games 4-5

Trailing in series but still with a good chance

If I was a betting man, I would right now put a small wager down on the Blue Jays to come back and win Games 6-7 to capture the ALCS over the Mariners. This series reminds me of the 2002 World Series where the Giants thought they had the series won at home in five games, but the Angels took the series back to Anaheim and won Games 6-7. Barry Bonds was the Giants equivalent of M’s Cal Raleigh.

As deep into October as the Blue Jays were going to stay alive in this post-season you had to expect that the bullpen would blow one lead per series … and that game was Friday night in Seattle, with lefty Brendon Little and righty Seranthony Dominguez combining to torch a 2-1n lead headed to the bottom of the eighth. It should have been Jeff Hoffmabn in the eighth and if he was efficient, continuing to the ninth. He may have blownb the game, but it is his right as the closer.

The obvious question has been discussed to death of why the only people who thought it was the right move to bring Little in that situation, facing Cal Raleigh and the heart of the M’s order, with six outs to go and a one-run lead, were John Schneider and Pete Walker in the Jays dugout. You could see with Schneider’s responses post-game that he knew he had made a mistake.

As my esteemed colleague and former co-host of Exit Philosophy, Scott MacArthur pointed out in a text message, last night, how could Schneider bring Hoffman into the game in the eighth inning of Game 4 the night before to face the Big Dumper with an 8-2 lead and then not bring him into the same situation 24 hours later leading by one? You have to believe that Schneider realizes his mistake and Little will not pitch again in this series if the Jays are going to complete the comeback.

On a personal basis, two things amaze me in the aftermath of the “sky is falling” Little debacle. First is that it took less than 24 hours for the Max Scherzer series-changing nation-energizing, in-your-face moment to become receding down the MLB highway an object farther than it appears in the rear-view mirrors of Jays fans.

Second surprise was the visibly angry reactions of Sportsnet analysts Joe Siddall and Caleb Joseph in pointing out Schneider’s big Little mistake in what was a crucial game that could have put the Jays in the driver’s seat coming home for a potential series-clinching Game 6. Rogers media employees are usually searching for logical explanations to explain to an anxious nation any normal human frailty.

The bottom line is the Jays needed to take two-of-three in Seattle to bring it on home to Rogers Centre with a chance to move on to their first World Series since 1993. They did that. Now in Game 6 they have a chance for the youngest player on the roster, Trey Yesavage to complement the performance of the oldest player on the roster, Max Scherzer, to advance the series to Game 7. At that point it’s anybody’s ballgame.

Take a deep breath and enjoy.