TORONTO — It all comes down to one game. The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays will battle for a World Series date with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after the Jays pushed the series the distance with a 6-2 win in Sunday’s Game 6. Trey Yesavage pitched into the sixth inning, and the Jays tacked on five early runs against Logan Gilbert to extend the series.
Monday night’s series finale will be the second Game 7 in Blue Jays’ history and their first in 40 years, since a loss to the Kansas City Royals at home to end the 1985 ALCS. The Mariners, meanwhile, will play the first Game 7 in franchise history, leaving the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres as the only teams to never play a winner-take-all Game 7.
Yesavage is still built for this
Half of Yesavage’s big league starts have come in October. All he knows at baseball’s highest level is stretch run starts and the postseason stage. Yet the rookie who claims he’s built for these moments continues to deliver.
Yesavage didn’t quite match the heights of his Division Series no-hit bid on Sunday, but he delivered the start Toronto required. The 22-year-old pulled a shutout into the sixth inning, finishing with 5 2/3 innings, seven strikeouts and two runs against.
Six months ago, Yesavage was probably unknown by many Blue Jays fans. Three months ago, it was a question if he could even climb to the big leagues this season. Now, deep into October, he’s an integral part of the club’s postseason rotation. He’ll likely be the only pitcher unavailable for Monday’s Game 7, though. If the Jays want to earn another start, they’ll have to find a way to the World Series.
Mariners find double trouble against Yesavage’s split
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said it himself before Game 6, when asked about the splitter, a pitch both teams feature heavily: “If you could throw it at the bottom of the zone, (it’s a) really a tough pitch to get into the air. It’s a lot of ground balls. You get the double plays when you need it from the split.”
Yesavage showed exactly what Wilson meant in the third and fourth innings. Both times, the Mariners had the bases loaded and one out, trailing by four runs. Both times, one swing could have tied Game 6. Both times, Yesavage threw a splitter that turned into a ground-ball double play to the right side of the infield – the first by Cal Raleigh and the second by J.P. Crawford.
Of course, splitters aren’t the only pitch that can induce double plays. Yesavage jammed Julio Rodríguez with a 93.6 mph fastball for a 6-4-3 twin killing to end the fifth inning, too.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has flipped his October narrative
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entered October with nothing but playoff failure. The only thing he learned from three previous postseason appearances, Guerrero said, was losses.
The narrative couldn’t be more different now. Guerrero built a career’s worth of October moments in these 10 playoff games. With a no-doubt blast to left in Sunday’s fifth inning, the first baseman launched his sixth homer of the playoffs. It tied him for the franchise’s all-time record for playoff home runs, alongside José Bautista and Joe Carter. Those two both participated in lengthy October runs with Toronto. Guerrero’s power work has come in just two series.
Somewhere between Guerrero’s three playoff sweeps and this October run, Guerrero learned more than losses. He learned how to become a postseason hero.
Josh Naylor continues to shine for Seattle — and help himself in free agency
The more you watch Josh Naylor, the more impressive he is as a player. Naylor has been the Mariners’ best hitter this postseason, an all-fields hitting savant who bashed his third homer of this ALCS in the sixth inning to give Seattle its first run. Naylor is 15-for-44 (.341) this October, which really stands out in a lineup with a whole bunch of postseason averages around .200 or lower.
Naylor, a first baseman from Mississauga, Ont., who just turned 28 years old in June, will command a lucrative deal in free agency this season. He hit .295/.353/.462 this season for Arizona and Seattle, with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases.
Will Wilson regret giving Blue Jays another long look at the Mariners’ bullpen?
The Mariners manager used two of his better relievers, Eduard Bazardo and Matt Brash, for three innings when trailing in Game 6. It seemed clear that with a chance to clinch the pennant, Wilson wanted to keep the deficit close enough for a comeback. Bazardo pitched two scoreless innings, and Brash allowed a run in the seventh.
The downside, though, is that Toronto got an extra look at two of Seattle’s four back-end relievers (the others are lefty Gabe Speier and closer Andrés Muñoz). Bazardo and Brash faced 14 hitters in Game 6, providing the Blue Jays with extra familiarity just 24 hours before Game 7.
It could be wise for Wilson to lean on Muñoz for multiple innings in Game 7. He’s the Mariners’ best bullpen weapon and should be fresh. The All-Star closer has pitched just two innings in the ALCS, and he’s been dominant all month, allowing no hits or runs in 7 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.
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