How does one quantify momentum? Can it be measured? Maybe, but you can tell when you lose it, and the Seattle Mariners have lost it.

Whatever momentum the Seattle Mariners felt they had after winning Games 1 and 2 of the American League Championship Series has vanished. Seattle and Toronto are now level at two games a piece as the Blue Jays defeated the Mariners 8-2 in Game 4 of the ALCS.

“This is two good teams going at it. This is what the championship series is all about, and we will make our adjustments and continue to do that and do the things that make us successful as well,” Mariners Manager Dan Wilson said.

In seemingly every baseball game, there are moments that feel like the game sits on the edge of a knife. The Mariners could not keep their balance at all in the first two ALCS games at T-Mobile Park.

Game 4 started almost identically to Game 3. The Mariners took a lead on an early home run, this time from Josh Naylor in the bottom of the second.

But the eight and nine hole batters for Toronto got the Jays on track to lead off the top of the third inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled off pitcher Luis Castillo, and Andrés Giménez hit his second home run — his second two-run home run in the exact same inning in almost the same place as the game before.

Another Blue Jay run came across on a bases loaded walk from Mariner lefty Gabe Speier, scoring Nathan Lukes (single).

Wilson’s managing strategy came into question with a runner on second base (Kiner-Falefa) in the fourth. George Springer came to the plate for Toronto with a base open and one out in the inning to face Gabe Speier. Speier has not looked like his 2025 self in the postseason. In 6.1 innings pitched this postseason, Speier had a 7.11 ERA compared to a 2.61 in the regular season.

“We have the ability tonight to be aggressive with the bullpen in that situation. Gabe was ready to go. It was a good matchup for us. We felt like that was a time to go. You make tough decisions and that was a tough one for sure. I think Gabe did a good job. He walked [Daulton] Varsho, but was able to get the next two guys,” Wilson said.

Wilson left Speier in the game, with right-handed Matt Brash waitin in the bullpen. With a base open, instead of intentionally walking Springer to pitch to a left-handed Lukes, Wilson stuck with the southpaw.

“You make decisions and you’ve got to live with them. I still thought he was throwing the ball well, but Springer was able to get him,” Wilson said.

Springer smacked an RBI double to extend the Blue Jays’ lead to three, 3-1. Against Lukes, Speier grounded out to shortstop.

Sure, the circumstances could have been different, and they most likely would have been. But that ground ball to J.P. Crawford would have been the easiest double play of the season. But that wasn’t the result. Springer would later come around to score on a wild pitch from Brash, who came to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Wilson mentioned wanting to be aggressive with his bullpen, but didn’t go to Brash against a player that has had the Mariners’ number his entire career. Springer was 5-14 (.357) in the series and has his most career hits and extra base hits against the Mariners.

The Seattle bats appeared to pick up their pitching staff with a two out rally in the bottom of the sixth. A pair of walks from Jorge Polanco and Naylor brought up Eugenio Suarez, who was just 2-10 against the Blue Jays. But he poked a single to right field, which scored Polanco, but Toronto’s Addison Barger threw a perfect throw to third to nab Naylor for the third out of the inning.

“I think we tend to be aggressive and sometimes when we are aggressive, it can backfire,” Wilson said.

Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer gave no quarter to the Mariners’ offense despite his rough season for Toronto. Scherzer tossed 5.2 innings and allowed just three Mariner hits, while striking out five. Scherzer also walked four Mariners, but found a way to wiggle out of various scenarios.

“I think he made some pitches when he had to in some key situations. We were able to get some traffic going, but nothing where we were able to drive that guy in. He got himself out of a couple of situations, and that was the story tonight,” Wilson said.

The Blue Jays were ready for the moment and have been all series in Seattle. Their stars have shown up: Guerrero Jr. hit his league leading fifth home run off Eduard Bazardo in the seventh to pull back the run the Mariners desperately wanted to keep.

From that moment on, despite being behind fewer runs than the night before, the lead felt insurmountable. A series that brought so much promise, so much hope and life to a city that was starving for it, now was filled with dread and despair. No matter how many times “Don’t Stop Believin’” played on the loudspeakers, the pit in Mariners fans’ stomachs was tumbling like a washing machine.

Giménez tormented Mariners fans again in the eighth by driving in his fifth and sixth runs in the first two games of the series in Seattle. It is the first time Giménez has hit home runs in back to back games since June 4-5, 2022, when he was with Cleveland (@ BAL). The two-game stretch against Seattle is the most RBIs over a two game span in his career.

Seattle could potentially play their final game at T-Mobile Park this season in Game 5 of the ALCS, and with first pitch at 3:08 p.m., the Mariners will look to get going early.

“This is a team that we have talked about bouncing back. With the series tied up at this point, it’s an opportunity to bounce back and get back on it. Tomorrow we can come out and do it,” Wilson said.