The Blue Jays scored four more in the sixth inning, powered by a three-run home run from catcher Alejandro Kirk, to take a commanding 12-2 lead over the Mariners in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) in Seattle Wednesday night.
An inning earlier, Ernie Clement hit a line-drive single to drive in another run, making it 8-2 for Toronto. Earlier in that same fifth inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s solo homer extended Toronto’s lead to 7-2.
That home run from Guerrero followed a solo shot from Toronto’s George Springer in the fourth that brought the score to 6-2.
Toronto slugger George Springer added a solo home run in the fourth inning to push the score to 6-2. (Abbie Parr/The Associated Press)
Shane Bieber, Toronto’s Game 3 starter, looked strong over six full innings, racking up eight strikeouts for Toronto before reliever Braydon Fisher came on in the seventh.
The Jays’ offence first exploded in the third inning, putting five runs on the board.
The first of those came courtesy of number-nine hitter, Andrés Giménez, whose two-run home run tied the game at 2-2.
Then Nathan Lukes scored on a wild pitch from Seattle’s George Kirby, followed by a double from Daulton Varsho that drove in two runs.
Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez hit a two-run home run in the third that got Toronto’s offence going in Game 3 of the ALCS on Wednesday night. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Seattle took an early lead in the first inning after Julio RodrÃguez hit a two-run home run off Bieber, who didn’t surrender any additional runs through the next five innings.
Ahead of the game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he’d be looking for Bieber to execute his pitches well.
“He’s at his best when he’s got all of his pitches where he wants to put them,” Schneider said while speaking to the media.
‘We’ve gotta make pitches’
But the Toronto skipper also said that’s something all the pitchers had to do to avoid home run-related trouble in Game 3.
“They’ve scored a lot of their runs this post-season via the home run, so we’ve gotta make pitches and be pretty stubborn in certain situations with where you’re throwing the ball,” said Schneider.
Shane Bieber got the start for the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the ALCS on Wednesday night. Bieber also started Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images/Reuters)
“I think we just have to be real deliberate with the guys that can leave the yard,” he said, reffering to the Mariners known for parking home runs. “That’s kind of what’s come back and hurt us.”
Seattle’s George Kirby started Game 3. The Mariners are trying to push for a 3-0 lead in the ALCS — an outcome that would turn Game 4 into a must-win for Toronto.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson downplayed any suggestion that his ballclub was starting to think about reaching the World Series — a feat the Seattle franchise has yet to achieve after nearly 50 seasons in Major League Baseball.
“We’re just focused on what’s going to happen tonight … and not looking beyond that,” Wilson told reporters ahead of the game.
Toronto and Seattle last did post-season battle in 2022, during a shorter, best-of-three wildcard round that saw the Mariners sweep the Jays.
Jays struggled in 1st 2 ALCS games
Toronto’s offence just didn’t deliver enough firepower in the first two games of the ALCS, as the Blue Jays fell 3-1 to Seattle in Sunday’s Game 1, then lost 10-3 to the Mariners in Game 2 Monday.
Both of those losses came before home crowds at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays recently won two American League Division Series games. They later eliminated the New York Yankees from the playoffs in the Bronx.
Toronto played just three games at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park during the regular season — a series in May that saw the Blue Jays sweep the Mariners.
The teams also played a three-game series in Toronto in April that the Mariners won 2-1.
A tough road ahead
The road to the World Series remains long for the Blue Jays, who still have to win four games in order to make it to the Fall Classic.
Should the Jays make it to the next round, they’ll face the winner of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) — either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Milwaukee Brewers.
Both would be formidable opponents.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith celebrates with pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto after their victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday. The Dodgers are up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. (Benny Sieu/Imagn Images/Reuters)
The Brewers won 97 regular-season games — also the most in the Milwaukee franchise’s history — more than any other team in Major League Baseball this year.
The Dodgers, who hold a 2-0 lead in the NLCS, have won two of the past five World Series championships (in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and again in 2024).