Scherzer, Giménez lift Blue Jays to 8-2 over Mariners, tie ALCS 2-2

Max Scherzer delivered a veteran start and Andrés Giménez drove in four runs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Thursday night in Seattle to even the American League Championship Series at two games apiece. The win forced a best-of-three stretch to decide the pennant and set up a pivotal Game 5 on Friday in Seattle, with Kevin Gausman scheduled to start for Toronto against Seattle right-hander Bryce Miller.

Scherzer, 41, allowed two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 innings and struck out five in his 500th major league start, regular season and postseason combined. He yielded a second-inning solo homer to Josh Naylor but settled in, inducing several swings and misses with his curveball. After a fifth-inning mound visit with manager John Schneider, Scherzer remained in the game and struck out Randy Arozarena to end the frame.

Toronto’s offense pounced on Seattle starter Luis Castillo and the Mariners’ bullpen. Giménez hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Blue Jays the lead and added a two-run single in the eighth after reliever Emerson Hancock misplayed the ball. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an opposite-field solo homer in the seventh, his fifth of the...