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Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer was not going to leave the game.
Scherzer, 41, got carried away by manager John Schneider when his captain came to the mound to remove him from the game during the fifth inning of the team’s 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday night at T-Mobile Park.
Scherzer, nicknamed “Mad Max” for his intensity during his starts, made his first start of the postseason on Thursday after being left off the ALDS roster with neck soreness. Schneider saw firsthand why Scherzer is nicknamed “Mad Max” during his visit to the mound.
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) shares a few words with Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider during a mound visit in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the MLB American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle, Washington, on Oct. 16, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
“I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. He looked me in the eyes, both colors, as he walked out,” Schneider said with a smile. “He’s got that Mad Max character, but he backed it up tonight.”
The three-time Cy Young winner said he wanted the ball at that moment. Scherzer said he was busy thinking about the sequence of pitches he wanted to throw to Randy Arozarena.
“And all of a sudden, I saw Schneids come out and it took me by surprise,” Scherzer explained. “That’s one of those moments where I know I wanted the ball. I knew the game situation. I wanted the ball and I basically told him in a little different language.”
Schneider heard Scherzer’s passionate plea to stay and was rewarded with a strikeout from Arozarena. It was a key moment in the Blue Jays’ victory, one that tied the series at 2-2.
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer reacts to a strikeout against the Seattle Mariners during the fifth inning of Game 4 of baseball’s American League Championship Series in Seattle, Washington, on Oct. 16, 2025. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)
“When a Hall of Famer like this tells you he’s good, you’ve got to leave him in the game,” said first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. “And he showed he’s good.”
“I tried to stay away from him,” teammate George Springer said. “You don’t really want to get in Max’s way, so you just let Max be Max. It was entertaining, for sure.”
Schneider said he had been waiting to be yelled at all year.
“I’ve been waiting for that all year, for Max to yell at me on the mound. I think at that point there are numbers, there are projections, there is strategy and there are people. So I trusted the people,” Schneider said.
Scherzer pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs, three hits and four walks while striking out five Mariners batters.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer looks at his dugout during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball’s American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle, Washington, on Oct. 16, 2025. (Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)
The Blue Jays offense, meanwhile, picked up where it left off after scoring 13 runs in Game 3. Andrés Giménez hit a two-run homer in the third inning for the second straight day, this one-time starter Luis Castillo to give the Blue Jays a lead they did not relinquish. The Blue Jays added another run in the inning when reliever Gabe Speier walked.
Scherzer’s departure, along with the Blue Jays’ offense, helped them tie the series at 2-2 as they head into a critical Game 5.
The Mariners and Blue Jays will play Game 5 at 6:08 p.m. ET on Friday, the final game of the series taking place in Seattle. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, will be played in Toronto.
