Blue Jays starting Gausman was the right move in Game 1, but was he pulled to early?

The Toronto Blue Jays were back in the ALCS for the first time since 2016, hosting the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 on Sunday night at Rogers Centre and the series didn't start the way it wanted, and there was some controversy surrounding a key managerial moment.

With the game tied and Kevin Gausman needing just one more out to get out of the sixth inning, he was pulled from the game, in a move that have a lot of people second guessing if Manager John Schneider made the right decision in a game that ended in a 3-1 loss for the Blue Jays and a 1-0 Mariners lead in the series.

Gausman was right choice to try and help Jays get ahead in early series lead

After George Springer hit a lead-off home run in the first inning the Blue Jays offense went cold, recoding just one more hit the rest of the game. While the offense is baring the brunt of the loss,
Gausman was hard on himself after the game. But maybe the results would have been different if he was allowed to pitch to one more batter.

You can't deny it was the right decision to start Gausman in Game 1. The Blue Jays used Gausman to start Game 1 of the ALDS as well, and Manager John Schneider wanted to go back to the well to set the tone for the ALCS. The results for Gausman were almost identical.
In Game 1 of the 2025 ALDS against the New York Yankees, he allowed just one earned run in 5.2 innings pitched with three strikeouts.

In Game 1 of the ALCS Gausman was cruising until Cal Raleigh hit a home run with two outs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at one. Gausman then walked Julio Rodriguez after giving up the home run, and was removed from the game, a decision that wasn't looked upon very favourably by MLB analysts.

Brendon Little was brought in and he promptly gave up an RBI single to Jorge Polanco and that earned run was attached to Gausman. His final pitching line ended with 5.2 innings pitched, and two earned runs with five strikeouts. Taking out Gausman may have been the turning point of the game.

In his postgame comments, Gausman was also upset that he couldn't get through six innings, saying, "This one's on me." It's admirable that Gausman wants to take the blame and pin this loss on him, but he was arguably the best player in the game for Toronto as the Blue Jays offence was anemic at best.

The Blue Jays now turn to Trey Yesavage to start Game 2 on Canadian Thanksgiving Monday, with a 5 p.m. start at Rogers Centre. The rookie sensation allowed no hits in 5.1 innings in his MLB playoff debut in Game 2 against the Yankees in the ALDS. The Mariners will counter with Logan Gilbert, who pitched two innings in relief during Friday's ALDS clincher against Detroit.