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10/15 23:24 CDT Guerrero, Springer sparks Blue Jays, who hit 5 HRs and cut
Mariners' ALCS lead to 2-1 with 13-4 rout
Guerrero, Springer sparks Blue Jays, who hit 5 HRs and cut Mariners' ALCS lead
to 2-1 with 13-4 rout
By ANDREW DESTIN
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) --- Tired in Toronto, the Blue Jays slugged in Seattle.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer woke up Toronto as the Blue Jays hit
five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Mariners 13-4
Wednesday night and closing to 2-1 in the AL Championship Series.
Toronto had 18 hits --- all within the first three pitches of each at-bat.
"If they give us a first pitch, the pitch that we're looking for, we're going
to attack and we're going to be aggressive," Guerrero said.
Seattle starter George Kirby gave up eight of the hits.
"I wasn't really executing when they got the guys on base," Kirby said. "And
they're really aggressive when that happens. They made some good swings."
Julio Rodrguez's two-run, first-inning homer off former Cy Young Award winner
Shane Bieber put Seattle ahead and stirred thoughts of a possible sweep in the
best-of-seven matchup by a team seeking its first World Series appearance.
Andrs Gimnez then sparked the comeback with a tying, two-run homer in a
five-run third against Kirby.
Springer, Guerrero, Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger also went deep as the
Blue Jays totaled 2,004 feet of homers.
Guerrero had four hits, falling a triple short of the cycle, after going 0 for
7 as the Blue Jays lost the first two games at home.
"No one expected us to win the division, no one expected it us to be here, and
I think the guys take that to heart." Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "I
said it when we left Toronto: I hope we find some slug in the air out here.
Maybe we did."
In the 2-3-2 format, teams that lost the first two games at home and won Game 3
on the road have captured the series three of 11 times.
A crowd of 46,471 at T-Mobile Park for Seattle's first home ALCS game since
2001 saw the teams combine to match the postseason record of eight combined
home runs, set by the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis in Game 3 of the 2015 NL
Division Series and matched by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston in Game 2 of
the 2017 World Series.
Gimnez hadn't homered since Aug. 27 before his drive off a Kirby fastball.
"Definitely something changed for our offense," Gimnez said. "We come tonight
with a mentality to attack."
Kirby allowed eight runs, eight hits and two walks, taking the loss.
"The first couple innings I thought he was dynamite," Mariners manager Dan
Wilson said. "This is a team that's going to hurt you if you make mistakes on
the plate. It looked like there were a couple that they were able to get to."
Kirby's run-scoring wild pitch put Toronto ahead 3-2 and Daulton Varsho
followed with a two-run double.
Springer homered in the fourth, tying Bernie Williams was fourth on the career
list with his 22nd postseason homer. Guerrero hit his fourth of the postseason
for a 7-2 lead on the first pitch of the fifth.
Kirk added a three-run homer in the sixth and is hitting .413 (19 for 46) with
eight RBIs in 14 games at T-Mobile Park.
Bieber, who got the win, pitched shutout ball after the first and wound up
allowing four hits in six innings --- the longest outing by a Blue Jays starter
in seven postseason games.
"Obviously didn't the start the way he would have wanted to, but that's pretty
much who he is," Springer said. "He can battle back from anything."
After the Blue Jays opened a 12-2 lead, Randy Arozarena connected in the eighth
against Yariel Rodrguez for his first home run since Sept. 9 and Cal Raleigh,
who led the major leagues with 60 home runs during the regular season, followed
three pitches later with his third of the postseason.
"If there's one thing we've done since I've been here, we bounce back together
well as a team," Mariners reliever Caleb Ferguson said. "We respond well when
we kind of get smacked in the face a little bit."
Up next Seattle RHP Luis Castillo, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief against Detroit in Game 5 of the Division Series, starts Thursday against RHP Max Scherzer. The 41-year-old, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is 0-3 over eight postseason starts since the 2019 World Series opener and hasn't started since Sept. 24. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Up next Seattle RHP Luis Castillo, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief against Detroit in Game 5 of the Division Series, starts Thursday against RHP Max Scherzer. The 41-year-old, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is 0-3 over eight postseason starts since the 2019 World Series opener and hasn't started since Sept. 24. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
