Guest: Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw   Game Four of the American League championship series is going to go down in Blue Jays history because of one singular moment – John Schneider's mound visit in the fifth inning in which Max Scherzer basically barked his manager off the mound.   In this playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field, we'll break down that "conversation" for you, and hear from both Scherzer and Schneider, as well as a couple of innocent bystanders.   Outside of that moment, the win for the Jays was massive. Scherzer's unexpected performance on the mound, another huge hit from Andres Gimenez, Addison Barger's incredible performance in right field in a game he expected to start at third base, and the Jays are back on even footing in a series that looked lost when they hopped on the plane to Seattle.   Myles Straw joins us to talk about that mound moment as well as the resilience of this team that we've seen all season long and, as always, we'll open up the mailbag at [email protected].

Guest: Blue Jays Offensive Player George Springer   SEATTLE - The Blue Jays pulled themselves back from the brink and Deep Left Field is here at T-Mobile Park in Seattle to tell you all about it.   After looking sluggish, to put it mildly, in the first two games of this American League Championship Series, the Jays flew north and west and found their offence somewhere along the way. They managed just one hit from the third inning on over Games 1 and 2 and had 17 after the second inning in Game 3.   George Springer had three of those - including a fourth-inning solo home run that moved him into a tie for fourth place overall on the all-time post-season home run list - and he joins us to talk about other things, such as Shane Bieber's performance, and the moment the right-hander sent chills through the dugout, the Jays' return to form and their five gold glove finalists that were announced Wednesday.   Also, as always throughout the playoffs, we open up the mailbag at [email protected]. This time, it's a much happier mailbag than it was after Game 2.

Guests: Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger, left fielder Davis Schneider, associate manager DeMarlo Hale       Deep Left Field is on the road in Seattle with your Toronto Blue Jays as they try to get back in their best-of-seven American League Championship Series with the Seattle Mariners, having lost the first two games.   We assess the mood around the clubhouse with Addison Barger and Davis Schneider, the latter of whom may have thrown a little shade on Jose Bautista's famous Bat Flip home run as we spoke on the 10th anniversary of the big swing.   DeMarlo Hale was the Jays' bench coach when Bautista hit the homer that shook the baseball world but, more importantly, he was on the staff when that Jays team overcame a two-games-to-none playoff deficit, having lost both games at home. We talk to him about that accomplishment, now that the Jays are trying to do it again.   And, as always, we take your comments and questions in the mailbag at [email protected].

Guest: Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes       All appears to be pretty bleak in Blue Jays land as they head north and west to Seattle trailing the best-of-seven American League Championship Series two games to none.   The complete offensive collapse against the Mariners was wholly unexpected, especially given that the Jays had scored 34 runs over their four-game ALDS win against the New York Yankees and Seattle seemed ripe for the picking, coming off an exhausting and emotional 15-inning winner-take-all Game 5 in their ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. That game finished less than 72 hours before the M's put the finishing touches on their 10-3 Thanksgiving blowout of the Blue Jays.   But as bleak as it is, the Jays seem to have overcome the odds time and time again this year and Deep Left Field will continue to be with them every step of the way.   In today's playoff bonus episode, we speak to Nathan Lukes, who had 50% of the Jays' hits in Monday's loss, including RBI singles in both the first and second innings. The Jays only had one hit after the second inning - a Lukes single, his third hit of the game.   Lukes was playing with a badly bruised right knee after fouling a ball off himself in Game 1.   And, of course, we open the mailbag at [email protected] to hear your thoughts on the loss, some clinging to optimism, some resigned to defeat, some utterly off the wall.

Guests: Chris Bassitt and Davis Schneider   The American League Championship Series begins tonight and for the first time since 1993, it's opening up in Toronto.   The Blue Jays are getting set to take on their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners, with the well-rested Kevin Gausman facing off against Bryce Miller, who will be pitching on three days' rest.   We're joined by Chris Bassitt, who talks about the sacrifices he made during the season that wound up costing him in September and October, but how missing playoff series doesn't matter to him as long as the Jays keep winning. Davis Schneider stops by as well, to tell us about getting a hit in his first playoff at-bat ever, at Rogers Centre in Game 2 of the ALDS, and in his first playoff at-bat at Yankee Stadium two days later.   Plus, as always, we open up the mailbag at [email protected] - keep those cards and letters coming!

Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm, Kim's Convenience/The Mandalorian's Paul Sun-Hyung Lee      It took a while, but the Toronto Blue Jays have an opponent in the American League Championship Series that begins Sunday night at Rogers Centre.   The Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in the decisive Game 5 of their American League Division Series, but it took them an all-time record (for a winner-take-all game) 15 innings to do it, which is certainly good news for the Jays, who were home and likely in bed watching things finish up just after 1:00 a.m. Eastern time.   We discuss the Jays-Mariners ALCS match-up with Gregor Chisholm and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, looking at how the short rest – and using three starting pitchers Friday night – might affect the M's as they try to get to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. For the Jays, it would be their first trip to the Fall Classic since 1993.   Will Cal Raleigh be Seattle's version of Aaron Judge? Will the Mariners have anything left after an exhausting, emotional series with the Detroit Tigers, especially after having to win 17 of 18 down the stretch just to win their division? What did the Jays prove to the baseball world with their win over the New York Yankees in their ALDS?   These questions and more will be answered, or at least will attempt to be answered, on this playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field!   You can be part of the next episode by sending your questions and comments to the mailbag at [email protected].

The Blue Jays are going to the American League Championship Series!   The Jays shrugged off their ugly loss to the New York Yankees in Tuesday's Game 3 and did all the things that got them to this point on Wednesday - great defence, timely hitting, making their opponents pay for mistakes - and combined that with an outstanding performance from eight relievers to knock the Yankees out of the post-season, guaranteeing that they won't defend their American League pennant.   Of the four teams that went into their games Wednesday with a chance to advance to the next round, the Jays are the only one that managed to do it.   They're in the League Championship Series - one of the last four teams standing - for the first time since 2016 and only the third time since 1993. They'll face either the Detroit Tigers in the first-ever 401 series or the Seattle Mariners in the first-ever ALCS battle between 1977 expansion cousins.   On this latest playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field, we go over the Game 4 win, what went right and what could have gone wrong, and we open up the mailbag at [email protected]  for your comments and questions!   Audio sources: Fox and Sportsnet

The Blue Jays quite literally kicked away their chance to sweep the Yankees in the American League division series, uncharacteristic errors and shoddy fielding giving New York the opportunity to overcome a five-run deficit and roar back to win the game and keep their playoff hopes alive for at least one more day.   We'll go through the gory details for you on this special playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field: -Did Shane Bieber get taken out of the game too soon? -What happened on that pop-up that Addison Barger missed to open the floodgates? -Should Anthony Santander be in the lineup and, if so, should he be playing the outfield?   As well, and as always during the post-season, we open the mailbag at [email protected] to go through your questions and comments, including whether it would be wise for the Jays to use Kevin Gausman in Game 4, how they'll work a bullpen game, when will Bo Bichette come back and what's up with Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer?