Featured ALCS X-Factors
USAT’s Gabe Lux shares the biggest negative factors that could play a key role in the ALCS when the Blue Jays take on the Mariners.
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The Seattle Mariners will go home with an overwhelming advantage in the American League Championship Series.
The pitcher-heavy team crushed the Toronto Blue Jays in every facet of the game, hitting three home runs and en route to a 10-3 victory in Game 2 at Rogers Center on October 13th.
And now history is overwhelmingly on their side.
They will take a 2-0 lead at home to T-Mobile Park, knowing that teams that win their first two road games have advanced 86.8% of the time in LCS history.
They can thank Jorge Polanco and an arguably unparalleled bullpen for a happy return to the Pacific Northwest.
Polanco hit a three-run home run off relief pitcher Lewis Burland in the top of the sixth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie. Polanco also provided the go-ahead run and a solid RBI in Seattle’s 3-1 win in Game 1.
And for the second straight game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider’s midgame gambit didn’t work.
On a night when Kevin Guzman was removed after just 76 pitches, the reliever may have been too hesitant to remove rookie Trey Yesavage after only allowing a run, but he allowed an infield hit and then intentionally walked Cal Lowry before Berland allowed Polanco to make the deciding hit.
Polanco, who was re-signed after the Mariners declined his option a year ago, is now 4-for-9 with five RBIs in this series and has eight hits and 11 RBIs in the postseason, including six game-winning or game-winning runs.
Seattle’s bullpen, on the other hand, gave up 6 scoreless innings and 1 hit relief, resulting in 9 scoreless innings in this series. Eduardo Buzzard and Carlos Vargas were particularly solid, contributing two innings each, allowing just one hit and one walk.
All of that combined to hold Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero hitless in seven at bats in this series.
— Gabe Lux
Where to watch Mariners vs. Blue Jays: TV Channels, Live Streams
Game 2 will be broadcast on Fox and Fox Sports 1 and can be streamed on Fubo.
Watch ALCS live on Fubo
On Thanksgiving Day in Canada, an Ontario player may have put the Toronto Blue Jays to sleep in Game 2 of the ALCS.
Mississauga native Josh Naylor hit a two-run home run into the right-field seats in the top of the seventh inning, giving the Seattle Mariners a 9-3 lead and further silencing the Rogers Center crowd.
Naylor’s home run off Braydon Fisher was the Mariners’ third home run of the game, following three runs by Julio Rodriguez in the first inning and Jorge Polanco in the fifth.
Now, the Mariners’ stout bullpen needs a six-point lead with nine outs to go before heading home with a 2-0 lead in the ALCS.
The Seattle Mariners continue to gain momentum and move closer to a commanding lead in the ALCS.
Pinch hitter Mitch Garber, a balding 34-year-old part-time DH, hit a triple against the center field wall, and JP Crawford sent pinch runner Leo Rivas home, giving Seattle a 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
After starter Logan Gilbert left the game in the third inning, Eduardo Buzzard did his job in the Mariners’ bullpen, pitching two innings with one hit in relief.
Jorge Polanco could single-handedly lead the Seattle Mariners offense to a 2-0 ALCS lead.
With Seattle leading 6-3 at the midpoint of Game 2, Polanco broke a tie with a three-run home run, the Mariners’ second of the night.
Polanco hit first and scored an insurance run in a 3-1 victory in Game 1. That night, he faced Blue Jays set ace Lewis Berland, with one out and runners on first and second base.
He sent the pitch just over the high wall of the right field seats, turning a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 Blue Jays lead.
For the Seattle Mariners to win back-to-back games in the first two games of the ALCS in Toronto, their bullpen will need to stay in shape for six innings.
Manager Dan Wilson, perhaps feeling confident after throwing six innings from starter Bryce Miller the night before, pulled starter Logan Gilbert after three innings and 58 pitches.
Eduardo Bazardo replaced Gilbert in the fourth inning and pitched a scoreless game, increasing the number of perfect frames by Seattle’s bullpen to four in this ALCS.
The game remained tied at 3-3 at the top of the 5th inning.
It took just two innings for the Toronto Blue Jays to cancel out Julio Rodriguez’s three-run homer.
Game 2 of the ALCS was tied 3-3 heading into the third inning, but Ernie Clement led off with a single from the bottom of the second inning, and Nathan Rooks’ RBI hit allowed him to come back and score.
Although the scores are tied, the starting pitchers have different tendencies. Mariners starter Logan Gilbert has already thrown 46 pitches and allowed six runners. Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage also needed 46 pitches to pitch two innings, but needed only 13 pitches to send his team out in the second inning.
As bad as it was for the Seattle Mariners, the Toronto Blue Jays’ batting lineup didn’t remain sluggish forever. After Julio Rodriguez’s 3-run homer in the first inning, they counterattacked with two runs in the bottom. George Springer hit a leadoff double, Nathan Rooks had an infield hit, Springer scored on an error, and Alejandro Kirk hit an RBI fielder over right field to score Rooks.
After the first inning: Trey Yesavage needed 33 pitches to end the inning, while Logan Gilbert threw 19, giving the Mariners three runs and the Blue Jays two.
Trey Yesavage is no longer perfect – and Mariners are positioned to take a commanding lead in the ALCS
The Blue Jays’ rookie right-hander, who was nearly perfect in his playoff debut against New York, was quickly overwhelmed in Game 2 of the ALCS, throwing the infamous split-finger pitch to Julio Rodriguez, who crushed it for a three-run home run.
Yesavage, 22, had started just three games in the major leagues before pitching 5 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts and a no-hitter against the Yankees, but he knew almost immediately that this game would be different. The Mariners remained patient out of the gate even as Yesavage struck out Randy Arozarena on a full-count pitch and then walked Cal Lowry.
Jesavage then went 0-for-2 against Rodriguez, throwing a splitter to one mainland and making yet another fatal mistake, which Rodriguez dangled to lead it narrowly down the left field line.
Granted, there are still eight and a half games left, but it’s not too early to think about it. Of the 38 teams that won their first two LCS games on the road, 33 (86.8%) advanced to the World Series.
- Randy Arozarena (R) LF
- Cal Lowry (S) C
- Julio Rodriguez (R) CF
- Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
- Josh Naylor (left) 1B
- Eugenio Suarez (r) 3b
- dominic song (l) dh
- Victor Robles(R) RF
- JP Crawford (L) SS
- George Springer (R) DH
- Nathan Lukes (left) RF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
- Addison Berger (L) 3B
- Alejandro Kirk (R) C
- Dalton Varsho (left) CF
- Ernie Clement(R) 2B
- Davis Schneider (R) LF
- Andres Jimenez (left) SS
Trey Yesavage, who will start Game 2 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, began his press conference prior to the game by condemning the attacks and negative behavior toward his loved ones since his fourth no-hitter in the major leagues against the New York Yankees.
“Living in this world where there are so many different opinions and emotions and that breeds so much hatred, it’s sad to see people close to you being attacked because of their performance on the field,” Yesabezi told reporters. “Whether it’s my parents, my siblings, my girlfriend, my family, these people have done nothing to warrant denying my actions. It’s really sad.
“I know I have a platform to address this issue, so that’s what I am. I hope people can understand that those people have nothing to do with what’s going on on the field or anything else.”
“If there’s a problem, I’m a guy and I’m open to whatever opinion anyone has about me or my life. So I just wanted to get it out.” — Gabe Lux
Seattle is one of five teams to never win the World Series and the only club in Major League Baseball to never even advance to the Fall Classic.
The Mariners were founded in 1977 and first reached the playoffs in 1995. This year will be Seattle’s fourth ALCS appearance, after losing in 1995 (Cleveland), 2000 (Yankees) and 2001 (Yankees).
The Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993.
They won their first title in 1992 by defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games, then defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, clinching the championship on Joe Carter’s walk-off home run.
What time is the Mariners vs. Blue Jays game today?
Game 2 of the ALCS will be and 5:03 p.m. Monday, October 13th.
