The Seattle Mariners are two wins away from the first World Series berth in franchise history. Monday night at Rogers Centre, the Mariners used three-run homers from Julio Rodríguez and Jorge Polanco to take Game 2 of the ALCS (SEA 10, TOR 3). Seattle is two wins away from the American League pennant. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, must win four of the next five games to advance.
Historically, teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven have gone on to win the series 87% of the time. Games 3-5 will be played at T-Mobile Park, where the Mariners went 51-30 this season (39-42 on the road). The Blue Jays, meanwhile, went 40-41 on the road during the regular season (54-27 at home). The Mariners are very much in the ALCS driver's seat.
That said, the series is not over. You only need to look back two years to see the last time a team overcame a 2-0 deficit in the Championship Series: the Arizona Diamondbacks did it against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2023 NLCS. The Blue Jays are down (down bad), but there is a lot of baseball to play. Here now are four takeaways from Game 2 of the ALCS.
1. Both teams took advantage of a bad call
Last week, Blue Jays rookie righty Trey Yesavage struck out 11 Yankees and held them hitless for 5 ⅓ innings in Game 2 of the ALDS. His ALCS Game 2 start against the Mariners wasn't nearly as smooth. Julio Rodríguez punished a hanging two-strike splitter for a three-run home run three batters in the game. To the action footage:
The three-run rally was set up at least in part by a bad call by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. He called a two-strike slider on the corner to Randy Arozarena a ball, which kept the at-bat alive. Arozarena was later hit by a pitch, then Cal Raleigh walked, then Rodríguez went deep. A would-be strikeout turned into a leadoff baserunner and three runs.
Here's the strike that became a ball. Arozarena started to walk back to the dugout. Even he thought it was strike three.
A bad call, that was, but also one bad call can't snowball into a three-run inning. Yesavage got ahead in the count 0-2 on Arozarena, ran it back full, and couldn't put him away. Then he walked Raleigh and threw a mistake two-strike splitter that Julio put in the seats. The Mariners caught a break on the bad call and took advantage.
Two innings later, Eddings paid the Blue Jays back when he called a would-be strike three to George Springer a ball. That kept the at-bat alive, Springer walked, than Nathan Lukes drove in a run with a two-out single to tie the game 3-3. Logan Gilbert had Springer struck out to end the inning, the at-bat continued, and Toronto turned it into a run.
Eddings was an equal opportunity bad-caller in Game 2. He missed pitches for both teams, and both teams turned those bad calls into runs. Given the final score, the bad calls are a mere footnote. The Mariners earned plenty of runs on their own and the Blue Jays gave plenty away.
2. Polanco's October legend continues to grow
What a few days for Jorge Polanco. On Friday, he walked off the Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS. On Sunday, he drove in the go-ahead run (and an insurance run) in Seattle's Game 1 win to start the ALCS. Then, on Monday, Polanco gave the Mariners a 6-3 lead with a three-run home run over the high wall in center field.
Considering the Mariners have never been to the World Series, this is truly one of the biggest swings in franchise history:
That rally was set up by an Arozarena infield single and an Andrés Giménez error. Giménez spun and made a wide throw to first base. and the ball bounced into the dugout, sending Arozarena to second base. Despite there being no outs in the inning, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Raleigh with first base open. Two batters later, Polanco made them pay.
Seven games into the postseason, Polanco is 8 for 31 (.258), and six of those eight hits have driven in a run. He's had game-winners and series-winners. With 5 RBI in the two games, Polanco is the super duper early favorite for ALCS MVP.
3. Seattle's bullpen stood tall
Two games into the ALCS, the Mariners' bullpen has faced 31 batters and allowed one hit. The Blue Jays haven't been able to get anything going against Seattle's relief crew. Eduard Bazardo, Carlos Vargas, and Emerson Hancock each threw two scoreless innings to wrap up Game 2, with very little stress along the way.
As for the Blue Jays, their bullpen has surrendered six runs in 5 ⅓ innings in the two games. Toronto native Josh Naylor parked a two-run homer into the visitor's bullpen in the seventh inning to turn Game 2 into a laugher.
Naylor is the fourth Canadian-born player to hit a home run in Canada as a visiting player in the postseason, and he did it on Canadian Thanksgiving. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Russell Martin, and Michael Saunders are the other three to do it.
Anyway, Toronto's middle relief can be shaky (closer Jeff Hoffman can be shaky too), and it certainly was in Game 2. The game swung wildly in Seattle's favor once the two bullpens got involved. In addition to the win, the Mariners were able to rest usual late-inning relievers Matt Brash, Andrés Muñoz, and Gabe Speier. All three will have two days off going into Game 3.
4. Up next
Tuesday is an off-day and the ALCS will resume with Game 3 at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday. It will be the first ALCS game in Seattle since 2001. Shane Bieber and George Kirby are the scheduled starting pitchers. The last game Bieber pitched in Seattle was his last start before Tommy John surgery in April 2024.
