They were road-weary, trotted out their least-distinguished starting pitcher on short rest and were walking into a playoff thunderdome in Canada.
Yet the Seattle Mariners remained impervious to the elements.
They broke serve in this American League Championship Series, snagging Game 1 from the Toronto Blue Jays behind Bryce Miller’s clutch pitching, the unstoppable Cal Raleigh’s game-tying home run and a pair of RBI hits from new October hero Jorge Polanco to register a 3-1 victory at Rogers Centre.
Oh, the Mariners aren’t necessarily in command of this ALCS. In Game 2 Oct. 13, they’ll have to deal with daunting Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage and his killer split-finger pitch. The Mariners will counter with Logan Gilbert, one of seven pitchers they had to burn when it took 15 innings to eliminate the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS on Oct. 10.
Tapped out and testy after travel delays getting from Seattle to Toronto, they turned to Miller, who pitched 4 ⅓ innings three days earlier. Give us what you got, surely, was the implication.
Miller gave them plenty, pitching six innings of two-hit ball and settling in after George Springer hit a first-pitch home run and he issued two walks in the bottom of the first before escaping.
‘I think the hope was to get through four,’ Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame press conference of the hopes for Miller. ‘It was evident that he wasn’t wanting to come out of that one, and you didn’t want him to come out of the game because he was just attacking, and it was awesome.’
Springer’s blast stood up until Raleigh, the record-shattering 60-homer catcher, went down and battered a Kevin Gausman split-finger pitch for a homer to right in the sixth inning. A walk, a pitching change and a wild pitch set the stage for Polanco, whose bases-loaded single ended the ALDS all-night affair in the 15th inning.
This time, batting right-handed, he ripped a single to right off lefty Brendon Little, scoring Julio Rodriguez with the go-ahead run. Polanco added an RBI single through a drawn-in infield in the eighth.
From there, the Mariners bullpen picked up the slack, with Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andres Muñoz providing perfect relief over the last three innings, with Muñoz collecting his second save of the postseason.
Time of game: 2 hours, 48 minutes, a vast contrast to the 4:58 it took to complete ALDS Game 5. But the Mariners are more than all caught up on rest, now.
Suddenly, they’re in command.
Here’s how Sunday’s game unfolded:
Jorge Polanco gives Mariners sixth-inning lead
Jorge Polanco lifted the Seattle Mariners to victory in the 15th inning against the Detroit Tigers. Two nights later, he gave them the lead in ALCS Game 1.
Polanco’s single off reliever Brendon Little scored Julio Rodriguez with the go-ahead run as the Mariners took a 2-1 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Polanco also had a two-homer night in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Cal Raleigh home run ties Game 1
The Big Dumper has checked in, and Game 1 of the ALCS is tied.
Cal Raleigh, with the Rogers Centre crowd on its feet anticipating an inning-ending strikeout, clobbered a splitter from Kevin Gausman 420 feet for a game-tying home run and the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays are tied 1-1 in the sixth inning.
Gausman had retired 15 in a row and worked a 2-2 count on Raleigh, one strike from escaping the top of the sixth. But Raleigh, who hit 60 home runs, clobbered his second home run this postseason to tie the game.
Gausman followed Raleigh’s homer with a walk to Julio Rodriguez and was removed, striking out five in 5 ⅔ innings.
Blue Jays 1, Mariners 0 heading into the sixth
After starting with a bang, Game 1 of the ALCS has been commandeered by the pitchers – in most surprising fashion.
Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman and Seattle Mariners semi-emergency starter Bryce Miller have each given up just two hits through five innings. The only blemish? George Springer’s first-pitch home run in the bottom of the first, the Blue Jays holding the 1-0 lead ever since.
It’s quite a turnabout for Miller, who is starting on three days’ rest after throwing 4 1⅓ innings in ALDS Game 4. Yet the decisive Game 5 against Detroit famously lasted 15 innings, and starters Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo were pressed into relief.
So far, Miller has answered the Mariners’ call.
Blue Jays still lead 1-0 through three
George Springer’s first-inning home run remains the only scoring in Game 1 through three innings, with Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman getting eight consecutive outs after two singles in the first.
Gausman went 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 193 innings in the regular season.
George Springer home run gives Blue Jays the lead
Playoff George has graced the stage, and the Toronto Blue Jays are once again out of the gates quickly in Game 1 of a playoff series.
George Springer moved into sole possession of fifth place with his 21st career postseason home run, hitting the first pitch from Bryce Miller out to right field and give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead over the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS opener.
Springer, the 36-year-old four-time All-Star, enjoyed better health and a career revival this year, posting a .959 OPS. His first-inning blast – breaking a tie with Derek Jeter on the playoff home run list – echoes Vladimir Guerrero’s moonshot in the first inning of Game 1 in the AL Division Series against New York.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman escaped a first-and-third situation in the top of the first, as Cal Raleigh was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to third.
ALCS Game 1 underway, Toronto escapes a jam
Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez singled with one out in the top of the first, but Jorge Polanco hit a ground ball to third baseman Addison Barger – who was playing in – and Raleigh was thrown out the plate trying to score. With runners on first and second, Kevin Gausman got Josh Naylor to line out to center to end the top of the first.
Trey Yesavage says people close to him ‘being attacked’
Trey Yesavage, who will start Game 2 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, began his press conference in advance of that outing decrying the attacks and negativity on loved ones since no-hitting the New York Yankees for 5 ⅓ innings in just his fourth big league start.
‘Living in this world where there’s so many different opinions and feelings which results in a lot of hate, it’s sad to see that people close to me are being attacked for my performances on the field,’ Yesavage told reporters. ‘These people have done nothing to warrant negativity for my actions, whether that’s my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, family. It’s just really sad.
‘I know I have the platform to address it, so I am. I hope that people can realize that those individuals have nothing to do with what happens on the field or whatnot.
Mariners lineup today
- Randy Arozarena (R) LF
- Cal Raleigh (S) C
- Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
- Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
- Josh Naylor (L) 1B
- Eugenio Suárez (R) 3B
- Dominic Canzone (L) DH
- Victor Robles (R) RF
- J.P. Crawford (L) SS
Blue Jays lineup today
- George Springer (R) DH
- Nathan Lukes (L) RF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
- Addison Barger (L) 3B
- Alejandro Kirk (R) C
- Daulton Varsho (L) CF
- Ernie Clement (R) 2B
- Anthony Santander (S) LF
- Andrés Giménez (L) SS
Blue Jays ALCS roster: Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt return
The Blue Jays made two changes to their roster ahead of Sunday’s Game 1. Veteran pitchers Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt will be active against the Mariners as the playoff series goes from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.
An eight-time All-Star, Scherzer (5-5, 5.19 ERA during the regular season) is a candidate to start Game 4, the middle of three consecutive games in Seattle. Bassitt (11-9, 3.96 ERA) last pitched on Sept. 18.
Scherzer and Bassitt replace relievers Justin Bruihl and Tommy Nance.
Blue Jays ALCS roster: Bryan Woo activated
The Mariners will have right-hander Bryan Woo, their best starting pitcher this season, available for the ALCS. Woo (15-7, 2.94 ERA) was not on Seattle’s roster for the ALDS after being sidelined by pectoral inflammation during a start on Sept. 19.
The Mariners also added infielder Miles Mastrobuoni to replace outfielder Luke Raley and infielder Ben Williamson.
Mariners’ Matt Brash back in Canada
A native of Kingston, Ontario about 2½ hours from Toronto, Mariners reliever Matt Brash is expecting a nice turnout of friendly faces at the Rogers Centre.
Prior to Game 1, the right-hander joked with reporters that he didn’t need to teach his Seattle teammates the Canadian national anthem: ‘I think someone sang it on the bus on the way over here, so I think they know it by now.’
Brash also spoke of his fond memories about the 2015 Blue Jays, the first time the team had reached the playoffs since 1993.
‘I’ve always been a Jays fan growing up… I remember all of those players, José Bautista and (Edwin) Encarnación and (Josh) Donaldson and all those guys,’ Brash said. ‘It was kind of my first memories of playoff baseball and being really into it.’
Bo Bichette injury update
The Blue Jays held out hope that shortstop Bo Bichette would be able to return from a knee sprain, but he he felt discomfort running the bases on Saturday and was left off the ALCS roster.
‘I feel for him because it’s been a long three weeks physically and mentally. He wants nothing more than to be out there,’ Blue Jays manager John Schneider said before Game 1. ‘But he’s going to keep himself ready and trying to get ready. Hopefully, we advance and hopefully he can kind of check off the boxes that we need him to check off.’
Blue Jays Addison Barger was a ‘die-hard’ Mariners fan
‘Most of my family is from Everett (Washington), so about 45 minutes north (of Seattle). I was a die-hard Mariners fan growing up, went to a few games,’ Toronto’s Addison Barger told reporters.
‘I don’t think I went to a ton, but when we moved to Florida, I was watching the Mariners every single night, like, my whole childhood.’
Have the Mariners ever won a World Series?
Seattle is one of five teams that has never won a World Series title and is the only club in Major League Baseball that has never even reached the Fall Classic.
The Mariners came into existence in 1977 and didn’t make the playoffs for the first time until 1995. This year marks Seattle’s fourth appearance in the ALCS after losing in 1995 (Cleveland), 2000 (Yankees) and 2001 (Yankees).
When did the Blue Jays win the World Series?
The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.
They defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games in 1992 for their first title and then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six to repeat, clinching on Joe Carter’s walk-off home run.