The Mariners boarded their charter flight back to Seattle in high spirits. After winning two games on the road, they were in an ideal position, needing to lock down just two more victories to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Returning to T-Mobile Park, the M’s could practically taste the Fall Classic.
Not so fast.
The Blue Jays stormed back and delivered a thundering statement by slugging five home runs — with three of them coming off Mariners’ starter George Kirby. The Mariners finished the game with three homers (the combined eight HRs tied a postseason record for a game), but the Jays took the home crowd out of the game by the fifth inning and ensured there would be no sweep.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Clutch No. 9
It was Toronto’s No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez, of all people, who quickly got the Blue Jays back in the game with a loud home run that tied things up at 2-2 in the third inning. The two-run shot off Mariners right-hander George Kirby was the first time Giménez crushed a home run in the postseason, and it came in his 24th career playoff game.
Were it not for Bo Bichette’s absence due to a knee injury, Giménez wouldn’t even be receiving everyday starts. The Blue Jays shortstop coolly jogged around the bases until he made eye contact with his dugout, clapping while he shouted “Vamos!” It provided a much-needed jolt to a Jays team that flew to Seattle down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series. After Giménez evened the score, the top of Toronto’s lineup reawakened, building a five-run rally in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Andrés Giménez jumpstarted the Blue Jays in Game 3. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
2. Julio raises the trident — again
In his second straight postseason game and for the third time this October, Julio Rodriguez went yard early to give his team the lead. In all three of those instances, Rodriguez put the Mariners on the board by homering off the starting pitcher. The three-time All-Star is having an excellent postseason thus far but, really, he’s been hot since the summer. Since the All-Star break, only Shohei Ohtani has more total bases than Rodriguez, including the playoffs.
The 24-year-old center fielder can’t seem to shake the reputation that he struggles to hit in the beginning of the year, with yet another slow start to the season until he finally started to heat up in July. But if he keeps coming through like this in October baseball, then nobody will remember what he did (or didn’t do) at the plate in April and May.
Julio Rodriguez’s first-inning home run gave the Mariners fan one of the only things to cheer about. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
3. Jays bats break out on the road
The Blue Jays aren’t just unbothered by a hostile road environment; they might even be more comfortable in it. After Seattle outscored Toronto 13-4 in the first two games of the ALCS at the Rogers Centre, the Jays returned the favor with an offensive outburst on the M’s home turf. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up his fourth home run of this playoff run, while George Springer and Alejandro Kirk each sent one into the seats for the third time this October.
T-Mobile Park is known as the best pitcher’s ballpark in baseball, but the Jays never seem to get the memo. They’ve won the last five head-to-head matchups at T-Mobile Park, including a three-game sweep when the Mariners hosted the Jays back in May. It’s Toronto’s longest active road winning streak against any opponent, and Seattle’s second-longest current home skid against any foe. In all, the game saw eight home runs — five by the Blue Jays, three by the Mariners — which tied for the most ever in a postseason game (Cubs vs. Cardinals on Oct. 12, 2015).
4. Vintage Bieber
When the Blue Jays targeted Shane Bieber in a swap with the Cleveland Guardians over the summer, a sharp outing like the one he recorded in Game 3 is exactly why they traded for him. The right-hander limited the Mariners to two runs on four hits while allowing just one walk over six solid innings. Bieber’s eight strikeouts matched a postseason career high, when the 30-year-old triumphed against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2022 Wild Card series.
Wednesday night was a reminder of how dominant Bieber can be when he’s feeling healthy, providing a glimpse of all that went right in his 2020 Cy Young award-winning season for Cleveland. He scuffled against the Yankees (two earned runs, five hits, 2 ⅔ innings pitched) in the ALDS. But Wednesday’s bounce-back outing was more important. Toronto desperately needed the momentum back in the ALCS, and Bieber delivered.
4½. What’s next?
Three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer will try to even the series when he takes the mound in Game 4 on Thursday. It will be the right-hander’s 26th career postseason start, but he hasn’t actually seen too much success in the playoffs of late. Scherzer has an 8.79 ERA (14 earned runs in 14 ⅓ innings pitched) across his last four October starts. But, thanks to Bieber’s lengthy outing and the lineup’s offensive barrage in Game 3, Blue Jays relievers should be plenty rested in case they need to bail out Scherzer. He’ll go toe-to-toe against Mariners righty Luis Castillo, who shut out the Tigers in his Game 2 ALDS start.
