TORONTO – Three instant impressions after the Mariners beat the Blue Jays 10-3 in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Monday afternoon to take a 2-0 lead in the series:
Polo Grounds
It was written last Friday after Jorge Polanco delivered the hit that sent the M’s to the ALCS. It was written on Sunday after two more hits were the difference in Seattle’s Game 1 victory over the Blue Jays. And it’s being written again after his three-run homer in Game 2 on Monday broke a 3-3 tie and started an avalanche of Mariners runs against Toronto’s beleaguered bullpen.
By the time this postseason ends, Polanco may go down as one of the best decisions – and bargains – in Mariners history.
One swing after another, Polanco has delivered this postseason, whether it was the two homers off Tarik Skubal, the walk-off in the 15th inning or the three-run shot off Louis Varland in the fifth inning. He’s the first player in MLB playoff history to deliver the go-ahead hit in three consecutive postseason games.
And he wasn’t alone.
Julio Rodríguez got it all started with his three-run homer in the first inning off a hanging splitter from Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage. Polanco’s homer was the decisive swing and Josh Naylor became the first Canadian to homer as an opponent in Canada with a two-run shot in the seventh inning.
Each time, there were runners on, making each homer impactful as possible. Solo homers are great and plenty of times this season have proved to be the difference in games. But three-run shots change games. And it was the heart of the order delivering the blows as Rodríguez, Polanco and Naylor combined for eight RBI.
The M’s scored exactly 50% of their runs during the regular season via the home run. It was 80% in Game 2.
Perfect ‘Pen’manship
Logan Gilbert was off from the start. His slider didn’t have bite and was backing up. The splitter was floating up in the zone. He was fortunate to be given a 3-0 lead right away, but it was gone by the top of the third. M’s manager Dan Wilson made the right call going to the bullpen.
Eduard Bazardo continues to be a revelation with another two innings of nearly perfect relief. Carlos Vargas, as inconsistent as he can be at times, was excellent with two innings and allowed only one walk.
Even Emerson Hancock saw the mound for the first time since Sept. 25 and despite some control issues closed out the victory.
The M’s bullpen has gone 20 straight scoreless innings dating back to the end of Game 4 vs. Detroit. It was an advantage coming into the series and the first two games showed just how much.
2 down, 2 to go
This is the closest the Mariners have been to reaching the World Series since Oct. 16, 2000. That was the day before the M’s – trailing 3-2 in the ALCS – lost Game 6 to the Yankees ending that playoff run. A year later, the 116-win M’s were discarded in five games by New York in the ALCS.
Only 15 times in postseason history has a team come from down 0-2 to win a best-of-seven series. The last time a team did it dropping the first two games at home was 1996.
There are cautionary tales, most recently 2023 when Texas took the first two games in Houston, dropped all three games at home and had to win Games 6 and 7 to advance.
But general playoff history, momentum, belief, maybe a weird witch-induced aura are all on the side of the Mariners. The opportunity is there for Wednesday night to be one of the most important games in the history of T-Mobile Park. Win and put a stranglehold on the series. Lose and the Blue Jays are right back in it.