Mascherano, 40, is a former teammate of Miami star Lionel Messi. The two were teammates at FC Barcelona from 2010-18.
Miami had won the regular season campaign with a record points total but after losing twice in the best-of-three series, the MLS Cup favourites and their eight-times Ballon d'Or winner are out.
Portuguese winger Xande Silva blasted home a sensational winner for Atlanta in the fourth minute of stoppage time in front of 68,455 home fans at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to level the best-of-three postseason series 1-1 and set up a winner-take-all game three in Miami next Saturday.
Miami started with all their big-name stars, including Lionel Messi, on the bench but the Argentine was introduced in the 61st minute to the delight of many in the Toronto crowd.
Messi had been subdued until the 45th minute when he put Inter ahead -- chesting down a long ball into the box and getting a lucky bounce off Crew defender Malte Amundsen before poking home.
Messi tied Saturday's match in the 67th minute when he lasered a shot from beyond the box that evaded diving Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina to make it 1-1.
Inter Miami's charge towards Major League Soccer's single-season points record suffered a setback on Saturday after a last-gasp injury-time equalizer from James Sands snatched a 1-1 draw for New York City FC against the Eastern Conference leaders.
The Argentinian superstar Messi came close to a game-clinching goal in the 83rd, but his angled effort was blocked by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan and Suarez's attempt to tap in the rebound was also denied.
The eight-times Ballon d'Or winner hadn't played since injuring his right ankle during the Copa America final on July 14, when he helped Argentina to victory over Colombia.
Messi's five assists, which all came in the second half, are a new record for an MLS game and he now has 10 goals and 12 assists in eight league appearances so far this season.
Without Messi, Miami had fallen to a 4-0 defeat to the Red Bulls in New York in March, but they more than avenged that loss with their merciless second half demolition job.
A crowd over 65,612 turned up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the stadium the Revolution share with the NFL's New England Patriots, to see the Argentine World Cup winner.
Everything Miami was creating was coming through Messi, who flashed a snapshot wide before moments later whipping in a cross for a Gomez header which was saved by Panicco's feet.
The crowd was more than 20,000 larger than the 52,424 that saw the then-Kansas City Wizards defeat Manchester United 2-1 at Arrowhead in an exhibition match in July 2010.
“To me, Leo is the greatest player of all time, I did not mean to offend anyone, I just gave an honest opinion,” Ortiz said
Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.
“The dwarf was possessed, he had the face of the devil,” Sánchez said referring to Messi.
The Argentine had been out of action for almost a month with a hamstring injury, missing the last four games, but was named among the substitutes for the home game.
Having sat out for almost a month due to a hamstring injury, superstar Lionel Messi could return to action when Inter Miami host Colorado Rapids in the Major League Soccer (MLS) at Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.
