Blue Jays get fresh chance in Game 4 to push Yankees from post-season

The Blue Jays will turn to hard-throwing pitcher Louis Varland to start Game 4, as Toronto gets a second chance to eliminate the Yankees in the Bronx on Wednesday evening.

Toronto has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series (ALDS), meaning the Blue Jays can advance to the next round of the playoffs with a win against New York.

The Yankees, on the other hand, face a second day of do-or-die baseball. If they lose, their season is over.

If they win, there will be a Game 5 at Toronto's Roger Centre on Friday that would be a must-win for both teams.

Varland, a 27-year-old reliever who came to Toronto via a deadline deal with the Minnesota Twins, has already pitched in the first three games of the series, but Toronto will send him out to start Game 4 — an unusual scenario resulting from Toronto having no other starters available to pitch on Wednesday night.

Several of Toronto's regular starters, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt, were left off the roster for this series, as was veteran starter Max Scherzer. Both Berríos and Bassitt were dealing with physical setbacks late in the season.

When Varland is done on Wednesday, his fellow relievers in the bullpen will be called upon to get the Jays through to the end of the game.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked Wednesday about the challenges of deploying relievers so many times against the same team in a playoff series.

"It's a chess game," Schneider told reporters ahead of Game 4. "I think that's what makes these series interesting and fun, and you can't take anything for granted."

The Yankees are sending rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler to the mound, looking to him to help win at least one more game to get a shot at knocking the Jays out of playoff