It only took one bad decision for things to unravel for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the ALCS.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Jays were six outs away from taking a 3-2 series lead over the Seattle Mariners. Toronto was clinging to a 2-1 lead at the moment, with Cal Raleigh coming to the plate in what would be one of the most important moments of the ALCS.
Instead of going to one of his higher-leverage relievers in Jeff Hoffman or Seranthony Domínguez, Blue Jays manager John Schneider opted to go with Brendon Little. It was a decision that quickly turned sour.
Little immediately gave up a game-tying home run to Raleigh and walked the next two batters. Domínguez came in, but the stage was already set as he hit Randy Arozarena to load the bases, which led to a crushing grand-slam home run from Eugenio Suárez.
Seattle won the game in that inning, with the final score reading 6-2 to push the Mariners to one win away from their first-ever World Series appearance. The Jays, on the other hand, are now on the brink of elimination.
It was a baffling decision to go to Little in that moment, and Schneider offered up a reason for making it after the game.
“Wanted to see that part of the lineup see different guys. We talked about it all series. Little’s been one of our best pitchers in big spots,” Schneider said. “I trust every single guy on this roster. No one feels worse than Little, than [Domínguez], or me.
“Thought about [using Hoffman] for sure. Again, decisions are hard. Being convicted in a process is important. You make a decision and you leave it behind you, that’s part of baseball. Second-guessing is part of it. Thought about it for sure.”
“I trust every single guy on this roster. Today it didn’t work out.”
John Schneider on the decision to bring in Brendon Little to start the eighth inning. pic.twitter.com/xexXWe4Hh5
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 18, 2025
Blue Jays fans have become accustomed to seeing the bullpen blow leads over the course of the season, but this one was a hard one to swallow. This will be the first time that Toronto has been pushed to the brink of elimination all season long.
Little also spoke after the game, where he gave a rundown on where he’s at after the disastrous outing.
“Put us in a position to win, and I came in and really couldn’t have pitched worse,” A dejected Little said. “Wanted to go away, wanted to try to establish away to Raleigh. Just missed on the first one and then really wanted to establish that sinker away and ended up leaving the one that he hit out just a little too much of the plate.
“From there, just struggled, and ended up putting [Domínguez] in a bad spot. Obviously feel terrible.”
Though Little was the one who began that epic eighth-inning collapse, it’s safe to say that the offence wasn’t quite there as well. The Jays were coming off scoring 21 runs over the previous two games, but only mustered two in Game 5. It wasn’t like they didn’t have chances, having gone two for 11 with runners in scoring position.
The buck will now pass to rookie Trey Yesavage to help keep the Jays’ season alive, who will start Game 6 of the ALCS back in Toronto on Sunday.