TORONTO – The Blue Jays insisted they were right where they wanted to beand they proved it. The roof may have been closedbut their season remains wide open.
Inside a packed and deafening Rogers CentreToronto staved off elimination with their 6-2 victory over the Mariners on Sunday nightforcing a decisive Game 7 in the American League Championship Series.
Trey Yesavage carried a shutout into the sixth inningAddison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homeredand the Blue Jays -- backed by the AL’s best home record this season -- refused to let their World Series hopes fade.
“This was the most electricenergized crowd I’ve ever played in front of before,” Yesavage said. “The team rallied behind the fans. They were a huge motivation for us.”
As Jays manager John Schneider predictedhis club did not buckle after their crushing Game 5 loss in Seattle pushed them to the brink of eliminationwhich had provided the Mariners with an opportunity to claim a pennant on foreign soil.
“We’ll be ready to go in Game 7,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. “Baseball is a game of adjustments. They will be able to do that tomorrow night.”
It has been a fantastic seriesmarked by clutch and gritty performances on both sides -- and now it all will come down to Monday. The Blue Jays haven’t been to a World Series since 1993; the Mariners never have.
Toronto hasn’t participated in a Game 7 since the 1985 ALCS against the Royalswhile this will be Seattle’s first. One of the clubs will advance to face the Dodgers in the Fall Classicthe other will go home empty-handed.
“You’ve got to enjoy itman,” Schneider said. “This is what we sign up for. This is why we sacrifice everything.”
In postseason historyteams playing any winner-take-all game in their home ballpark are only 68-67including 30-29 in best-of-seven series.
“I love pitching under pressure,” said Seattle’s George Kirbywho will start Game 7 opposite Toronto’s Shane Bieber in a rematch of Game 3. Kirby surrendered three home runs and eight earned runs over four innings in that gamea runaway 13-4 Jays victorywhile Bieber allowed just two runs over six innings with eight strikeouts.
Game 6 was a night for firsts. Yesavage had not induced a double-play grounder through the first 14 innings of his big league career (and just two in his 98 Minor League innings this year). The rookie right-hander must have been saving that trick for when he really needed itrolling three consecutive inning-enders in huge spots.
Cal Raleigh hit into a bases-loaded twin killing that ended the third inningJ.P. Crawford bounced into one with the bags full in the fourthand Julio Rodríguez grounded into a double play that allowed Yesavage to escape the fifth unscathed.
“I was getting my stuff in the box earlygetting ahead of batters and letting my defense work,” Yesavage said. “Getting three double plays in back-to-back-to-back innings to get out of two bases-loaded jamsthat is huge. I knew my defense had my back.”
Throughout this ALCSthe Blue Jays have showcased a boom-or-bust offense -- fortunately for the enthusiastic crowd on handit was more of the former. Facing Logan Gilbert for the second time in this seriesToronto took advantage of Seattle’s uncharacteristically shaky defenseas the M’s committed a season-high three errors.
The first came in the second inningwhen third baseman Eugenio Suárez booted an Ernie Clement grounderfollowing a Daulton Varsho leadoff double.
Barger and Isiah Kiner-Falefa cashed runs with singles; Guerrero scorched a 116 mph grounder that appeared destined for more damagebut Suárez smothered it with a terrific diving stop. It was the hardest-hit ball of this ALCS so far.
“He’s obviously locked in,” Clement said of Guerrero. “He’s just staying within himself and not trying to do too much – and he is doing a lotso it’s fun to watch.”
Toronto added a two-out rally in the third inning. Clement jumped on the first pitch he saw for a triple to deep leftpelting the chain-link fence overlooking the bullpenand Barger parked a slider into the seats beyond right-center field to open up the lead.
“That’s a moment you dream about as a kid,” Barger said.
Guerrero hoisted his bat high after going deep in the fifth inninglaunching Gilbert’s final pitch of the game – a curveball - into the left-field bullpen. Gilbert was knocked for five runs (four earned) and seven hits in four-plus inningsincluding two homers.
It was Guerrero’s sixth homer of this postseasontying Joe Carter and José Bautista for the most by a Blue Jay in a single postseason.
“It feels greatbut it feels even better because we won the game,” Guerrero said.
Josh Naylor broke up Yesavage’s shutout bid with a sixth-inning homerhis third of this postseason. Two of the three have been hit in Toronto by Naylora native of MississaugaOnt. Suárez added a run-scoring single in the sixth to greet Louis Varlandthe first reliever out of the Jays’ bullpen.
Hit by a pitch his next time up in the seventhGuerrero created chaos as he came around to score Toronto’s sixth runadvancing on a wild pitch and a Raleigh throwing error. Television replays showed Guerrero stomping on home plate and looking into the Seattle dugoutclapping his hands emphatically.
Jeff Hoffman recorded the final six outsstriking out four -- andto paraphrase the lategreat Jack Buckwe’ll see you tomorrow night for a Game 7 that has been decades in the making. Everyone on both sides promises to be ready.
“If you’re notI don’t know if you have a pulse,” Hoffman said. “This is why we do itto have an opportunity like this.”