Won, not done: Jays top Tribe; Gm 5 today

TORONTO — The Blue Jays were down but they were not out, and Toronto made a statement loud and clear in Game 4 at Rogers Centre: This American League Championship Series is not over quite yet.

Josh Donaldson homered and Edwin Encarnacion delivered a key two-run single as the Blue Jays extended the series with a 5-1 victory over the Indians on Tuesday. Aaron Sanchez picked up the win by allowing just two hits over six strong innings to give his team a chance. Cleveland now leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

ALCS Game 5: Today at 4 p.m. ET on TBS/Sportsnet/RDS

Game Date Time Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 14   CLE 2, TOR 0 Gm 2 Oct. 15   CLE 2, TOR 1 Gm 3 Oct. 17   CLE 4, TOR 2 Gm 4 Oct. 18   TOR 5, CLE 1 Gm 5 Oct. 19 4 p.m. CLE@ TOR TBS/SNET/RDS *Gm 6 Oct. 21 8 p.m. TOR @ CLE TBS/SNET/RDS *Gm 7 Oct. 22 TBD TOR @ CLE TBS/SNET/RDS * If necessary | All times listed ET • ALCS coverageShop for postseason gear: Blue Jays | Indians

The game started off with a lot of nervous energy at Rogers Centre, but by the time the seventh inning rolled around, the party was in full swing. The odds are still against Toronto, but for at least one day, none of that mattered. The most important thing is that there will be a tomorrow for a Blue Jays squad that was in a deep hole less than 24 hours prior.

Toronto became just the fourth team since 1985 to force a Game 5 after trailing 3-0 in an 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. The Tribe, however, was the only team in the Majors to not lose four straight games this season, the first club to do that since the 2014 Dodgers.

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“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 was in a tough spot after Cleveland went with ace Corey Kluber on three days’ rest. Kluber had yet to allow a run this postseason, but Donaldson put an end to that in the bottom of the third with a solo homer to left-center field. For the first time in this series, Toronto had a lead, and the emotion spilled over onto the field as Donaldson screamed as he ran the bases.

The Blue Jays went on to score another run in the fourth on Ezequiel Carrera’s bloop single before gaining some much-needed breathing room with two more in the seventh on Encarnacion’s bases-loaded single up the middle. It wasn’t quite the offensive eruption everyone had been waiting for, but it was enough to get the job done and force a Game 5 in front of Toronto’s home crowd.

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“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 big role in this win, and he set the tone early with a three-up, three-down first inning, which included a pair of strikeouts. His lone mistake came in the fifth inning, when he allowed an RBI double off the wall in left-center field to Roberto Perez. The AL ERA leader struck out five and walked two en route to the quality start.

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“Well, you can see the …

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