TORONTO — Already during this captivating run to the American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays have conquered so many of the hills — not maxing out their talent; not winning the AL East; zero playoff victories; not taking a post-season series — that felled them in years past. So, it’s perhaps fitting then that their latest climb features the Seattle Mariners, who vanquished them in a 2022 wild-card sweep that included a Game 2 rally from 8-1 down that’s now very much part of the expansion cousin’s lore.
After all, if this is going to be a fully redemptive journey, might as well face down all the of the past’s hauntings.
But while this iteration of the Blue Jays is a more complete team than the one from three years ago, so too is this edition of the Mariners, fatigue and all after Friday night’s 15-inning Game 5 win over the Detroit Tigers and delay-filled travel Saturday.
They shook off both that and the 209 pitches thrown by seven pitchers, including Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo out of the bullpen, during their thrilling clincher to get the jump on their rested rivals Sunday. Bryce Miller delivered six innings of gutsy work to outduel Kevin Gausman, while a solo homer by MVP candidate Cal Raleigh erased George Springer’s leadoff shot before two Jorge Polanco RBI singles secured a 3-1, ALCS-opening win.
The contest played out along the fault lines that will decide the best-of-seven, with Seattle’s enviable starting rotation and deep bullpen able to limit the quality contact of Toronto’s strong bat-to-ball lineup, while the Mariners’ deep lineup kept the pressure up enough to eke out enough offence against Gausman and the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
Miller allowed only two hits and three walks over his six innings before relievers Gabe Speier, Canadian Matt Brash and closer Andres Munoz went nine-up, nine-down to close out the victory, throwing a mere 100 pitches combined in the process. The way Mariners pitchers tend to attack the zone and how aggressively the Blue Jays respond – the delicate balance between swinging early to avoid falling behind versus waiting the pitcher out for something to hit – will be a key dynamic to watch within the above fault lines.
“A staff like them, you know you're probably not going to get much to hit so you've got to be aggressive, but you've got to be smart at the same time,” said Springer. “So if they throw something to hit, you've got to hit it.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who went 0-for-4 with a rocket liner in the first, added via interpreter Hector Lebron: “The game dictates how you approach your at-bats. He didn't have that many pitches, so trying to work the count a little bit, not be too aggressive. He (pitched) well.”
Seattle is by no means out of the water from the toll of Friday’s win, as Gilbert, two days after throwing 34 pitches of relief, will start Game 2.
But in grabbing the opener, they bought themselves some margin for error while also turning up the heat on rookie Trey Yesavage, who counters Monday for the Blue Jays as they seek to salvage a split before heading west for three games.
“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man, these guys will be ready for it,” said manager John Schneider. “I've said it a million times. They're going to be ready to play tomorrow. It does not put any extra pressure on Trey. It's another game. We're trying to figure out a way to win four, and I think Trey will be up for it. I think our guys will be up for the challenge to kind of show what we've been doing all year offensively tomorrow, as well.”
Another wrinkle for the Blue Jays, after Bo Bichette wasn’t ready to be rostered for the series, was that Nathan Lukes left the game in the fourth inning with a contusion after fouling a ball off his right knee in the first. Testing revealed no fracture but “his knee was pretty sore, obviously,” said Schneider, although “if he's medically good to play (Monday), he'll be in there.”
The loss came after an ideal start for the Blue Jays before a crowd of 44,474, as Gausman worked out of a jam in the first after one-out singles from Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez put men on the corners, when Polanco, who delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 15th inning Friday night, followed with a weak chopper to third that Addison Barger snagged and fired home, where Alejandro Kirk tagged out his counterpart.
Josh Naylor flew out to end the inning and in the bottom half, Springer hammered Miller’s first pitch, a 97.3 m.p.h. fastball on the outer edge, over the wall in right to open the scoring.
Lukes followed with a 12-pitch walk and after Guerrero Jr. lined out on a 107.2 m.p.h. drive to centre and Barger walked, Kirk popped out and Daulton Varsho lined out at 102.5 m.p.h. to end the inning.
Miller’s 27-pitch first might have been a problem but he reeled in his outing from there, trading zeroes with Gausman until Raleigh’s solo shot in the sixth, when he hammered a splitter than ran back over the bottom of the zone and ended up in right field.
Gausman followed with a walk to Julio Rodriguez that ended his night at 76 pitches, with a Brendon Little wild pitch advancing the runner before Polanco’s go-ahead single made it a 2-1 game.
“Really good hitter,” Gausman said of Raleigh. “Got him out on (a splitter) earlier, probably in that spot a little too good of a pitch, trying to bounce it. I'm more upset with walking Julio right after that. Obviously that was the difference-maker.”
Polanco’s RBI single in the eighth extended the lead and the Blue Jays didn’t have an answer from there.
“Obviously you look at the middle of their order, they've got some big thumpers, but everybody also knows the contact they put up,” Raleigh said of the Blue Jays. “They don't punch out a lot. It makes it really tough. They put a lot of pressure on the defence and a lot of pressure on the pitchers.
“It's understanding you've got to execute pitches to these guys, especially the top of that order, because they get that thing rolling and those guys are good at making contact, driving in runs, moving runners,” he continued. “It comes down to executing pitches, and our guys did a really good job of doing that today.”
In doing so, they made this latest hill for the Blue Jays to climb a little bit steeper.
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