Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays Beat Indians 5-1, Stay Alive In ALCS Game 4

After losing the first three games in the American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays rebounded in Game 4 on Tuesday night to remain in the competition this postseason.

Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays Beat Indians 5-1, Stay Alive In ALCS Game 4

Josh Donaldson homered and Edwin Encarnacion delivered a crucial two-run single as the Blue Jays extended the ALCS with a 5-1 home win over the Cleveland Indians.

Aaron Sanchez picked up the win by allowing only two hits over six dominant innings to bring the series score to 3-1.

Encarnacion put the game out of reach with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to plate the third and fourth Toronto runs.

The Blue Jays became just the fourth team since 1985 to force a Game 5 after trailing 3-0 in a LCS. The 2004 Red Sox, who were managed by current Indians manager Terry Francona, are the only team to rally from three games down to come back and win a best-of-seven series after they eliminated the Yankees in the ALCS. The Blue Jays hope to become the second.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Donaldson said. “We’re still down three games to one. It’s a must-win each and every game. But the fact of the matter is we’ve got to go out there and continue to control what we can control. I felt like we did that for the better half of today, and we’ve got to go out there and do it again tomorrow.”

Toronto’s struggling lineup found itself in a difficult spot after Cleveland went with ace Corey Kluber on three days’ rest. Kluber had not yet given up a run this postseason, although Donaldson ended that in the bottom of the third with a with a solo homer to left-center field. For the first time in this series, the Blue Jays gained a lead.

The Blue Jays scored another run in the fourth on Ezequiel Carrera’s bloop single before getting some much-needed breathing room with two more in the seventh on Encarnacion’s bases-loaded single up the middle.

“We’re capable of doing even more than we did today,” Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista said. “I really haven’t been killing the ball. I’m getting on base. A bunch of us are capable of doing more than we’ve done. The bottom line is, we only need to do as much each day to get that win, and we got that today.”

Sanchez also played a major role in the victory, and he set the tone early with a three-up, three-down first inning, which included a pair of strikeouts. His only mistake came in the fifth inning, when he allowed an RBI double off the wall in left-center field to Roberto Perez. The AL leader sruck out five and walked two in total in his quality start.

“Well, you can see the velocity, everybody sees that,” Francona said of Sanchez. “But right from the very first inning, he commanded his breaking ball … and that made it really, really tough on us.”

Game 5 is set for Wednesday night in Toronto. Rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt will get the start for the Indians. Merritt has a grand total of 11 career big league innings under his belt. The Blue Jays will counter with righty Marco Estrada, who over the past two years has posted a 2.02 ERA over five starts in the playoffs.

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 18: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians during game four of the American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre on October 18, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)