SEATTLE — Luis Castillo‘s smile was small and tight as he heard Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson tell him on the mound that he was being replaced. It was the third inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, with the Mariners trying to hold off the Toronto Blue Jays, who had already won one game on the Mariners’ home field. Castillo, who had thrown fewer pitches than he had in any of his 247 starts in the major leagues, nodded in assent — if not agreement — and handed the ball to his manager.

What happened before Wilson’s decision was bad; what occurred after was worse. The Mariners’ relievers failed to contain the Toronto offense, in an 8-2 loss, and with the series tied at two games apiece, Seattle will go into Game 5 with its pitching options even more complicated by how Wilson’s choices played out.

Every postseason decision is evaluated through the prism of the result, which is not always fair but is October reality.

“You make decisions,” Wilson said after the game, “and you have to live with them.”

What the Mariners’ staff had talked about going into Game 4, Wilson explained, was that Seattle wanted to be aggressive in going to the bullpen. When Toronto blew out the Mariners in Game 3, Wilson was able to hold back all of his best relievers: Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andres Munoz. Additionally, Bryan Woo — who had been Seattle’s best pitcher before getting hurt Sept. 20 — would be available out of the bullpen, if Wilson found a suitable opportunity.

Castillo is a three-time All-Star, the most accomplished of the Mariners’ vaunted rotation of starting pitchers, known for his sturdy reliability. He has also had a year of diminished stuff, with his swing-and-miss rate the lowest of his career; Toronto had scored eight runs in 10 innings against him during the regular season.

In the first two innings Thursday, Castillo threw crisply, attacking the strike zone with a fastball that reached 95 mph. But in the third inning, everything changed. Isiah Kiner-Falefa pulled a double down the third-base line, and with a 3-2 count, Andres Gimenez pulled a slider into the right-field stands, giving the Jays a 2-1 lead. Relievers began stirring in the Seattle bullpen, and as Nathan Lukes and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled, Speier quickly warmed up. Too many pitches in the middle, Cal Raleigh would say later.

Alejandro Kirk drew a walk to load the bases. Wilson’s options in that moment: stick with Castillo, or summon Speier, a lefty, to face left-handed hitting Daulton Varsho.

Wilson emerged from the dugout and didn’t immediately signal to the bullpen; rather, he spoke to Castillo, telling him he was intending to call on Speier. Castillo had thrown only 48 pitches, the fewest in his nine-year career. He returned to the dugout and watched the rest of the inning play out from the top step.

“It’s a tough decision,” Wilson said, “and it was not an easy one to tell him. But that’s what we went with.”

Varsho fell behind 1-2 in the count, but he fouled off two pitches and worked the count full before drawing a walk. Toronto’s lead was 3-1. Speier struck out the next two hitters to avoid further trouble, and Castillo met him with a high-five as he stepped into the dugout.

In the next inning, Speier pitched himself into trouble again. After a Kiner-Falefa single and a sacrifice bunt, right-handed hitting George Springer batted next.

Wilson had three options in that moment:

He could have summoned Brash, his best set-up man, to face Springer. He could have effectively compelled Speier to pitch around Springer. Or, with the left-handed hitting Lukes on deck and Guerrero set to follow, he could allow Speier to face Springer.

Wilson went with the third option, and Springer ripped a double into the left-field corner, extending the Jays’ lead to 4-1. By the time Lukes grounded out, Speier — the best left-handed option in the Seattle bullpen — had thrown 32 pitches, more than any outing in his career.

Wilson summoned Brash into the game with the Mariners down by three runs — probably not the situation the manager envisioned at a time when his team was leading the series. Seattle’s bullpen had to cover 20 outs Thursday.

Bryce Miller starts Friday, in the Mariners’ final chance to win a championship series game in front of their home crowd. This series is guaranteed to return to Toronto — but whether it does with a Seattle lead is up to Miller and a bullpen that was used heavily in Thursday’s loss.

“We did use bullpen guys tonight, but they were very well rested again,” Wilson said. “So I think that we’re still in good shape in terms of our bullpen and also, we have Bryan down there as well, and we’ll utilize him when the time is right.”

It is unclear how Castillo felt about all of this. In his time with the Mariners, he has been known for consistently sticking around to answer questions after his starts, good or bad. But by the time reporters were permitted into the Mariners’ clubhouse after Game 4, Castillo was gone.

SEATTLE — The stuff might not have been vintage Max Scherzer, the three-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer who once possessed one of the most blazing fastballs in the game, but the 41-year-old has accumulated a wealth of pitching knowledge during his 18 seasons and more than 3,000 innings in the majors.

Most importantly: The vintage Scherzer intensity remains unmatched.

Scherzer, making his first start of the postseason after a difficult end to the regular season, allowed two runs and three hits over 5⅔ innings to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to an 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night to even the American League Championship Series at two games apiece.

Scherzer’s famous ferocity was on display in the fifth inning, when manager John Schneider visited him with two outs and a runner on base, after Scherzer had recorded a hard-hit out to right field.

Scherzer screamed at his manager: “I’m good! Let’s go!”

Schneider quickly returned to the dugout, one of the shortest mound visits in postseason history. You don’t mess with “Mad Max.”

“It was just a situation,” Scherzer said. “I was going through it in my head. I understood where the game state was, knew how I wanted to attack, and then all of a sudden, I saw Schneider coming out and I kind of went, ‘Whoa, whoa, I’m not coming out of the ballgame.’ I felt too good. And so we had a little conversation that basically I wanted to stay in the ballgame, just with some other words involved.”

Schneider laughed as he said that he had been waiting for that kind of moment ever since their first video call in the offseason, when the Blue Jays were looking to sign Scherzer.

“It was awesome. I thought he was going to kill me,” Schneider said. “He locked eyes with me, both colors, as I walked out. And it’s not fake. That’s the thing. It’s not fake. He has this ‘Mad Max’ persona, but he backed it up tonight.”

Scherzer struck out Randy Arozarena on a 79 mph curveball to end the inning and then got two outs in the sixth before finally departing after a two-out walk and throwing 87 pitches.

The curveball was key all night — Scherzer recorded four strikeouts on it, which tied his career high for any game. He had recorded just eight strikeouts on it in 17 starts in the regular season. He threw 10 curveballs Thursday, all for strikes. It was a pitch Scherzer had developed after a few seasons in the majors, one that helped turn him into a Cy Young winner, but it was never his primary breaking ball.

“That’s just kind of how the cookie crumbled tonight,” Scherzer said. “There were just times I felt like I could rip a good curveball really well, and [Alejandro Kirk] was calling it and I was kind of like in my head, ‘Is this the right pitch?’ But then I was, ‘I feel good with this pitch.'”

Early on, it didn’t look like Scherzer would last long. In the bottom of the first, he walked Cal Raleigh with one out and then walked Julio Rodriguez on four pitches. A couple of pitchers in the Toronto bullpen started stretching, just in case the inning got out of hand.

That was understandable given how Scherzer ended the season: He had a 9.00 ERA over his final six starts, allowing 25 runs and eight home runs in 25 innings. In his last start Sept. 24, he allowed 10 hits in five innings. In the start before that, he got knocked out in the first inning of a 20-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. He wasn’t on the roster for the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees.

“Dude’s 41,” Schneider said. “He lives for this, and you have to respect that, and you have to appreciate that.”

Scherzer escaped the first inning when he induced Jorge Polanco to ground into a double play on a 1-2 changeup — doubling down with back-to-back changeups. After that inning, he stalked off the mound toward home plate, like he often does, a picture of the emotion that has marked his career. Then, he realized he had to let the umpire check his glove.

In getting the win, Scherzer became just the fourth starting pitcher 41 or older to win a playoff game, joining Roger Clemens, Kenny Rogers and Dennis Martinez. He became the first pitcher to make a postseason start for six organizations.

“You’re in the biggest moment of the season right now,” Scherzer said. “These games are must-win, every single one of them. And you when get success, it’s great. This is what you play for. You worked so hard the whole year, make all the sacrifices, put in all the work to get to this moment, to have these types of moments, to be able to win in the postseason.”

He got help once again from the hard-hitting Toronto offense — and perhaps from a questionable quick hook by Mariners manager Dan Wilson of starter Luis Castillo in the third inning. The Jays had scored on Andres Gimenez‘s two-run homer — making it two games in a row that Gimenez, Toronto’s No. 9 hitter, had delivered an early home run — and had the bases loaded with one out when Wilson brought in Gabe Speier, his top left-handed reliever. The move backfired when Speier walked Daulton Varsho and then George Springer added an RBI double in the fourth. Wilson brought in Matt Brash, another of his high-leverage relievers, but he uncorked a wild pitch as the Jays made it 5-2.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a home run to right-center in the seventh inning, his fifth of the postseason and the Blue Jays’ 17th in eight postseason games.

By the ninth inning, many Mariners fans had exited the ballpark, leaving the Blue Jays fans who had trekked down from Canada chanting, “Let’s go, Blue Jays!”

Scherzer, who won World Series rings with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and the Texas Rangers in 2023, first pitched in the postseason in 2011 — against a Yankees lineup that featured long-retired players such as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

“The excitement of beating those guys back in 2011, it’s the same excitement as today, of beating players in this generation,” Scherzer said. “You can’t get higher than this level of baseball, postseason baseball. So, when you had success 14 years ago, it’s the same as today. It’s the highest you can possibly be at.”

The third Saturday in October delivers a lot of good things in college football, and not just Tennessee–Alabama, as the Vols try to break their Tuscaloosa curse and win there for the first time since 2003.

The SEC figures to dominate the spotlight, as it often does, as Ole Miss and Georgia tangle between the hedges. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin took a shot at Kirby Smart’s waistline this week, giving the Georgia coach and his team even more fuel to avenge last season’s loss in Oxford. Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt have had two weeks to stew over the Alabama loss, and now welcome offense-challenged LSU to Nashville.

There is also non-SEC action to monitor, including the USC–Notre Dame rivalry, which hopefully will extend long beyond Saturday, and the Holy War, featuring No. 15 BYU and No. 23 Utah. There are also sneaky-good matchups such as undefeated Georgia Tech visiting a surging Duke team.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap in Week 8. — Adam Rittenberg

Jump to:
Heisman contenders | Big 12 title race
Baylor-TCU rivalry | Key matchups
Quotes of the Week

Midseason Heisman Trophy contenders

1. Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama: You know it’s a wild Heisman race when a quarterback who lost his first career start to a now-floundering Florida State team sits atop the list. But Simpson and the Tide have bounced back nicely from their struggles in Tallahassee. Simpson is completing 70.9% of his passes for 1,678 yards with 16 touchdowns and only one interception. He’s one of only four FBS quarterbacks to record multiple passing touchdowns in every game he has played, and has 200 or more passing yards in all six. Simpson completed all 17 of his attempts against UL Monroe and had only five incompletions the following week against Wisconsin. He showed toughness in a road win against Georgia, and then outplayed fellow Heisman candidate Diego Pavia the following week. Simpson has endured one of the tougher first-half schedules, especially for a first-time starter, and has spread the ball around nicely to his targets while showing strong leadership skills.

2. Carson Beck, QB, Miami: The biggest name in last year’s quarterback transfer cycle entered the fall with a good degree of uncertainty, joining a new team with a new offense, and coming off of UCL surgery in December. But Beck has looked a lot more like the quarterback who propelled Georgia’s offense in 2023, and projected as a top 2025 NFL draft pick. He has completed 73.4% of his passes for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns, and helped Miami to a 5-0 start despite facing three FBS opponents from within the state — Florida State, Florida and South Florida — as well as Notre Dame. Beck had four touchdown passes in a win at Florida State and has spread the ball around well in coordinator Shannon Dawson’s offense to Malachi Toney, CJ Daniels and others. He has completed at least two-thirds of his passing attempts in all but one game and ranks sixth nationally in QBR.

3. Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana: Another notable name in the quarterback transfer portal, Mendoza has been a fantastic addition to an Indiana team seeking a second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, and a deeper postseason run. The Cal transfer has completed 71.2% of his passes for 1,423 yards with 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. After an uneven opening performance against Old Dominion, Mendoza put together one of the best three-game stretches by an Indiana quarterback. He recorded 782 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and no interceptions, while completing 58 of 68 passes in wins against Kennesaw State, Indiana State and then-No. 9 Illinois, which Indiana routed 63-10. Mendoza then helped Indiana grind out a road win against Iowa, before completing 20 of 31 attempts in a 30-20 win last week at No. 3 Oregon. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Mendoza is a bona fide NFL draft prospect and a main reason why Indiana could be an even better team than its 2024 version.

4. Jayden Maiava, QB, USC: He plays for the right coach (Lincoln Riley), in the right offense and at the right school, as USC has eight Heisman winners, more than any other program. Maiava became the starter late last season and didn’t enter this fall with as much hype as other quarterbacks, but he has delivered consistently for the Trojans. The junior leads the nation in QBR (93.1) and has completed 71.9% of his passes for 1,852 yards with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. He has connected on at least two-thirds of his attempts in five of six games, and showed remarkable accuracy in last week’s win over Michigan, hitting on 25 of 32 attempts. Maiava has multiple touchdown passes in five of six games, leads the nation in yards per pass attempt (10.8) and leads the Big Ten in passing yards (1,852), passing average (308.7) and passing yards per completion (15.1). He has a big showcase opportunity ahead this week at No. 13 Notre Dame.

5. Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State: The Heisman doesn’t always go to the best player in the sport, for a multitude of reasons, especially when that player isn’t a quarterback. Smith entered the season with the designation of being No. 1, and his established star power should help his contender status with a big second half. The true sophomore still has 40 receptions through Ohio State’s first six games, and has a receiving touchdown in the past five, ranking second nationally with seven scoring catches. He has five or more receptions in every game and two 100-yard receiving performances. Smith ranks in the top 10 nationally in total receptions, receptions per game and touchdowns scored. He also isn’t disappearing from the radar as the face of the nation’s No. 1 team and the defending national champion. Smith needed only 19 games to reach 1,500 career receiving yards, and is the fastest Ohio State player to record 22 touchdown catches. — Rittenberg

No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 15 BYU and No. 24 Cincinnati all enter the week 3-0 in conference play, but it’s clear that Texas Tech has emerged as a heavy favorite to win the Big 12. The Red Raiders have what previously seemed like a difficult test this week at Arizona State, but after the Sun Devils fell 42-10 against Utah last week, some of the luster is gone. If quarterback Sam Leavitt is sidelined again, Texas Tech should be in good shape.

The most intriguing matchup of the week is, of course, the Holy War between BYU and Utah. Utah has been rolling since it fell apart late against Texas Tech a few weeks ago and will head to Provo needing a win to remain a serious contender to reach the conference title game. BYU, meanwhile, is 6-0, but those wins haven’t exactly come with style points. The Cougars had a miraculous escape at Arizona last week to conclude the first half of their schedule, which was significantly easier than what they’ll see the rest of the way (Utah, Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU, Cincinnati, UCF).

Cincinnati has run off five straight wins since dropping its opener to Nebraska and gets reeling Oklahoma State this week. The Bearcats don’t have Texas Tech on the schedule but will see both Utah and BYU later in the year. — Kyle Bonagura

Going deep into the Baylor-TCU rivalry

Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson might have a little extra on the line in the recently renamed Bluebonnet Battle against TCU.

It’s a key Big 12 game for both teams. The teams are both 4-2, though Baylor is 2-1 in the conference and TCU is 1-2. They also have a deep history and have played 120 times. There’s plenty at stake.

But then there’s the matter of some paternal pride.

Robertson is from Lubbock, Texas, where TCU coach Sonny Dykes and Sawyer’s dad, Stan, were both standout baseball players in the same corner of West Texas at the same time. Stan Robertson was drafted by the Montreal Expos out of high school and set off for the minor leagues, while Dykes went to Texas Tech on a baseball scholarship. After two years in the minors, Stan decided to return home, where he also went to Texas Tech — on a football scholarship to play for Sonny’s dad, Spike.

The Robertson and Dykes families have been close for decades. Sawyer grew up a Red Raiders fan, and even attended the same high school Sonny did. So when Sonny recruited Sawyer — he offered him first a scholarship as a sophomore when Dykes was at SMU — there was an easy rapport. Maybe too easy. During the process, a little family secret might have been unearthed.

“When I was getting recruited, Sonny would always tell me that he hit a home run off my dad, and my dad hated it so much,” Sawyer said, laughing. “But that’s Sonny.”

“I did hear that,” Stan said, about Sonny’s claim. “I don’t really remember that.”

Dykes just smiled and said he wasn’t sure where that story came from, which made Sawyer laugh when told of Dykes’ memory.

“Well my dad wasn’t the one who brought it up, I can promise you that,” Sawyer responded.

Our independent investigation didn’t turn up any box scores between the Coronado Thunderbirds and the Plainview Bulldogs to verify or dispute the claim. The truth might forever be lost to history.

Sawyer ended up picking Mississippi State to play for another Red Raiders legend, Mike Leach. Then when Leach died in 2022, Robertson entered the transfer portal and Dykes again recruited him, this time to TCU. But Robertson said both times, Dykes’ quarterback situations were good and he was honest with him, and said the calls to let him know he was going somewhere else were the hardest. At TCU, he admired quarterback Josh Hoover and thought the Frogs had their guy. On Saturday (noon ET, ESPN2), he’ll face off against Hoover and Dykes as he and Hoover rank No. 1 and 2 in the nation in passing yards.

Dykes said he has been incredibly impressed with Robertson’s development and the way he’s playing now, leading the country in all the major passing categories. And on Tuesday, during his news conference to discuss Baylor, he conceded that Stan was “a lot better [baseball] player than I was” and said Sawyer was a “first-class kid in every sense of the world” and he roots for him every Saturday — except this one. The Robertson and Dykes families will stay friends no matter what happens Saturday.

LSU-Vanderbilt: Can Vanderbilt’s high-flying offense be effective against a high-level SEC opponent? Will LSU’s offense ever take off in 2025? These are the central questions to an intriguing October matchup in Nashville on Saturday. The Diego Pavia-led Commodores are scoring more than all but six offenses across the country (43.3 PPG) and enter Week 8 ranked second nationally in third-down conversion percentage (57.9%). But Alabama provided the blueprint for slowing down Vanderbilt in its 30-14 win over the Commodores on Oct. 4; if LSU’s 21st-ranked run defense can make Pavia one-dimensional and keep Vanderbilt out of short-yardage and third-down situations, the Tigers could find themselves in the kind of low-scoring game that has generally suited them this fall. Meanwhile, LSU’s struggling offense — which ranks 78th in yards per game and 86th in scoring — remains an issue with a banged-up Garrett Nussmeier under center. Facing a Vanderbilt defense giving up only 90.7 rushing yards, this probably isn’t the week for the Tigers to sort out their bottom-of-the-SEC rushing attack. That leaves the onus again on Nussmeier and top pass catchers Aaron Anderson and Barion Brown to spark things for LSU, especially if the home-favorite Commodores manage to make this a high-scoring game. — Eli Lederman

Ole Miss-Georgia: Can Georgia’s defense get off the field on third down to get the ball back to its offense? Can Ole Miss’ offense keep moving the chains the way it has for much of the season? The Rebels are converting more than 50% of their third downs, and the Bulldogs have allowed opponents to convert about 40%. Mobile quarterbacks have given the Bulldogs fits over the past few seasons, and the Rebels have two of them in Trinidad Chambliss and Austin Simmons, who has been slowed by a sprained ankle. Georgia had three turnovers and couldn’t run the ball in last season’s 28-10 loss to Ole Miss. The Bulldogs couldn’t protect quarterback Carson Beck in that game, and they’ll have to do a better job with what has been a banged-up offensive line. If Georgia is going to win, it can’t afford another slow start, which put it in big holes against Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn. The Bulldogs have made great adjustments at halftime, but getting off to a fast start might be imperative in this one. — Mark Schlabach

USC-Notre Dame: Which defense will bend and which will break? Coming into this game, both USC and Notre Dame sport two of the best offenses in the country — per SP+, the Trojans are ranked first and the Irish are ranked fourth and both are led by two of the most impressive quarterbacks in Jayden Maiava and CJ Carr. Their respective defenses (ranked 45th and 23rd) are less accomplished so far this season, giving Saturday’s top-20 matchup the potential for a shootout. USC’s defense has been more inconsistent and shaky than its counterpart, but it’s coming off a game in which the Trojans were able to dominate Michigan in the trenches. The Trojans will need to do the same against a more talented Notre Dame front on the road. The running game, in particular, will be crucial. USC has two injuries to its top two backs (Eli Sanders and Waymond Jordan) and will turn to walk-on King Miller — who broke out for 158 rushing yards and three total touchdowns against Michigan — while the Irish have the luxury of handing off the ball to Jeremiyah Love. Love has nine total touchdowns over the past four games; even with an improved defensive unit, USC might not be able to stop him. — Paolo Uggetti

Quotes of the week

“I don’t know, that’s a good question. I walked by the TV and saw his press conference today, so I don’t think he’s burned too many calories. But he does have a lot of energy in games and he coaches really passionate. I’ve given him heat before about the weight loss part. He says he’s too stressed to work out.” — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, when asked if he or Georgia coach Kirby Smart burns more calories during a game.

“You know, I’m just going to focus on us this week. Our guys, our coaches. So I’m not going to give much thought on the opponent this week. So, really, you have to ask them what they think of Bear.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, when asked what he has seen from BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier ahead of its Holy War rivalry game.

“Halt! No. We haven’t tried it. Let’s be real now. We have not tried it. I’m not going to get into what we do have. We have not tried it. All due respect to everybody who put forth their effort. We have not tried it. Not at a Division I level. Forget Big Ten level, we have not done it at the Division I level. Let’s be clear on that.” — Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, on the school’s efforts to be competitive in NIL.

“Look, there’s three things you go through when you’re a coach. You’re in the honeymoon phase, you’re in the ‘please don’t leave’ phase and you’re in the ‘please leave now’ phase.” — Duke coach Manny Diaz, reacting to the firing of his former boss, James Franklin, at Penn State.

“I don’t know if I’m going to walk outside and my car is going to start or not, I think it is. I have an expectation it will. But if my car doesn’t start enough, then I will evaluate that and make decisions about my car. But that’s not my expectation at this point about our football program.” — Auburn athletic director John Cohen, when asked whether he expects Hugh Freeze to be the Tigers’ head coach in 2026.