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george castillo
TORONTO — Twenty-eight hours ago they clinched the home-field lead in the American League Championship Series win 3-1 against blue Jays Sunday night in Toronto, the seattle mariners Were stuck at home.
after living a hard life 15-inning winner-take-all thriller versus detroit tigers Celebrating late Friday night and into the early morning, the Mariners were scheduled to leave their home ballpark for the airport at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday morning. The entire continent, in less than 36 hours, awaited their first appearance in the ALCS in 24 years.
But their flight was delayed due to mechanical problems as a plane was taking off from Los Angeles to take them to Toronto. The Mariners waited at T-Mobile Park for more than four hours. Finally at 2:15 pm the team started their journey. The Mariners arrived in Toronto at 10:15 pm, arriving at their hotel just after 11 pm. As the Mariners traveled, the Blue Jays, who had been inactive since Wednesday night, worked out at Rogers Center.
Mariners took Game 1 back anyway bryce millerA gem of six innings on short rest, cal raleighALDS Game 5 tying home run and more timely hitting is exceptional George Polanco,
“We’ve talked about how resilient these guys are,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And tonight was one of those examples again.”
The difference in comfort was evident in the early pitching matchups. blue jays right hander kevin gosman Took the ball more than a week after closing New York Yankees Over 5⅔ innings in Game 1 of the ALDS on October 4. Miller took it on only three days’ rest after recording 4⅓ innings in Game 4. detroit tigers Wednesday in his postseason debut.
Initially, as expected, the imbalance appeared to benefit Toronto. george springer Miller was ambushed and his first pitch – a 97 mph fastball that barely hit the outside corner – hit over the right field wall. leadoff home runThe ball traveled at a speed of 109.4 mph.
More vigorous contact ensued. after Nathan Lukes Worked out a 12-pitch walk – in the process his left knee was damaged by a pitch which caused him to exit the game after two innings – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Cracked a 107.2 mph line drive. After that two batsmen, dolton varsho Crushed a 102.5 mph line drive. Both balls were caught to end the inning, but the Blue Jays, after scoring 23 runs in their two ALDS games at home, looked forward to another blast.
But that never came to fruition as Miller limited the Blue Jays to one run on two hits in six innings, giving Wilson the four-inning best-case scenario he envisioned for them. Instead, Miller became the first pitcher david price Log at least six innings in 2018 and allow no more than one run in the postseason on three or fewer days’ rest.
“They didn’t tell me anything, didn’t tell me any plans,” Miller said. “So I was just going out there and letting it explode until they came out and got me.”
Miller retired 17 of the last 19 batters he faced, surrendering just one in the second and a walk in the sixth. The average speed of his fastball was 96.3 mph, the highest in his 76 career starts. He threw 27 pitches in the first inning and just 49 in the next five. It marked the second time Miller has pitched six innings in a start this season, one including two stints on the injured list due to elbow inflammation, and marked the largest increase in ERA from last season (2.94) to this season (5.68).
“I can’t say enough about Bryce,” said matt brashOne of three Mariners relievers to throw a perfect inning to end the game. “It was unbelievable on his part.”
Gausman faced trouble early, but the Mariners stranded two runners in the first inning. Gausman then retired 15 straight batters until Raleigh stepped into the batter’s box for the third out. The AL MVP candidate, after giving up a single and a strikeout in his first two at-bats, retired with two strikes and two outs and golfed a splitter into the right-field seats to silence the sold-out crowd.
“I thought I was pitching pretty well, and the last two guys I faced I had a home run and a walk,” Gausman said. “So I’m not very happy with it.”
Hitters were 0-15-15 with six strikeouts in the first against Gausman’s splitter, his signature pitch. For Raley, the tying blast was his 12th home run in 27 career games, including the postseason against the Blue Jays, and his fourth career blast against Gausman.
“I was just trying to put the bat on the ball and really try to put something in the game, maybe find a hole because I didn’t want to get punched out again,” said Raley, who breezed through pregame introductions through his final plate appearance in the eighth inning. “I was able to put good wood on him. He’s a really tough pitcher.”
Gossman left again julio rodriguez Blue Jays manager John Schneider moving out of the dugout to replace his starter with a left-hander Brendan LittleThe move to lefty prompted the explosive Polanco, who was a switch-hitter with an .888 OPS against lefties during the regular season, to bat right-handed.
The decision backfired. A wild pitch allowed Rodriguez to take second base, Polanco, whose Single in 15th inning Friday keeps Seattle’s season aliveHit a single to left field to give the Mariners the lead. Two innings later, Polanco doubled the margin with an RBI single to right field on a right-handed fastball. seranthony dominguez,
“He’s been incredible,” Raleigh said. “He has been the heart and soul of this case for the last month.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays finished the game 1 for 28 with three walks after Springer’s leadoff home run. Their last 10 batsmen lost the order. It was a courageous performance from a tired Mariners group that came close andres munoz Closing the door in the ninth inning. He finished work at 10:52 p.m., less than 24 hours after the Mariners settled into town. Game 2 awaits Monday.
“It was a good win again,” Wilson said.
