Jeff Hoffman finished off a four-out save as the Toronto Blue Jays used eight pitchers in a bullpen game and beat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Wednesday night to win their American League Division Series three games to one.
George Springer lifted a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and the Blue Jays advanced to the America n League Championship Series for the first time since 2016. Toronto will host Game 1 against either the Detroit Tigers or the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Springer scored on a single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the opening inning off New York rookie Cam Schlittler (1-1). Nathan Lukes added a two-run single off Yankees reliever Devin Williams in the seventh following a fielding error by Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base.
Seranthony Dominguez (1-0), the third Blue Jays pitcher, tossed 1 2/3 scoreless frames. Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler (1-1) allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Tigers 9, Mariners 3
Riley Greene, Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres each hammered home runs to help Detroit even the AL Division Series against Seattle at two wins apiece. Baez drove in four runs.
Tigers starter Casey Mize was pulled after three innings of one-run ball and replaced by Tyler Holton, who teamed up with three other relievers to allow only two runs and six hits over the final six innings. Troy Melton (1-1) gave up two hits over three scoreless innings.
Seattle starter Bryce Miller allowed two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings. Four Mariners relievers yielded seven runs on nine hits, including Gabe Speier (0-1).
Cubs 4, Brewers 3
Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped a two-run single to highlight a four-run first inning, helping host Chicago stave off elimination with a win over Milwaukee in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Michael Busch homered to lead off the first inning for the second time in this series, becoming the first player in major league history to accomplish the feat. Nico Hoerner and Kyle Tucker each had two of the Cubs’ eight hits.
Jake Bauers led the Brewers’ offense with an RBI single in the fourth inning and an opposite-field homer to lead off the seventh to trim Chicago’s lead to 4-3. However, Cubs closer Brad Keller struck out Bauers with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning and then retired the side in the ninth inning to secure his second save of the playoffs.
