Shane Bieber didn't make it out of the fourth inning on Monday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays starter was removed in the fourth after recording two outs in the frame, turning the ball over to right-handed reliever Louis Varland with runners on first and second.
Bieber allowed seven hits and two runs while striking out five, but wasn't permitted to face Julio Rodriguez for a third time.
The Seattle Mariners centre-fielder opened the game with a double and a home run off Bieber, scoring both of his team's runs in the early going. So, as Rodriguez came up to the plate in the fourth, Blue Jays manager John Schneider opted to give him a new look in Varland.
The move paid off, as Varland got Rodriguez to ground out to third to escape the jam, keeping Toronto's deficit at one.
"We got everyone available," Schneider explained to Ken Rosenthal on the Fox broadcast about how the bullpen lines up. "We're gonna just try to pick the right spot for each guy in their lineup. Right now it's all hands on deck and we got plenty of coverage."
After dominating the Mariners' lineup through six innings of eight-strikeout ball in Game 3, Bieber didn't quite have his offspeed pitches working at the same level on Monday.
Of the seven hits he allowed, six came on breaking pitches — the second most in his career, according to Inside Edge.
Game 7 was Bieber's third start of this post-season for the Blue Jays. In Game 3 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, he lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs.
Watch on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ as the Blue Jays look to pick up their starter and punch their ticket to the World Series.
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