7/22/23

Mariners 9, Blue Jays 8

(Seattle, WA) Chaos ball was the theme of the 2022 Seattle Mariners last season due to the weird and wild ways that they would find to win games. The Chaos Cup however should be the name of the rivalry between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays because they just can’t seem to play normal games against each other. After a comeback win the night before in game one, Seattle would do it yet again after both teams flexed their muscles with the long ball as the Mariners survived a slugfest in a game of the year contender.

All was quiet early on in the game. Logan Gilbert was rolling with four strikeouts in the first three innings and Kevin Gausman was also on fire with three strikeouts through the second. In the bottom of the 3rd is where the chaos began. Leading off the inning, Cal Raleigh continued to dominate the Toronto Blue Jays and more specifically Kevin Gausman. A fastball just below the belt in the middle of the plate was disposed of into right center for Cal’s 13th home run of the season as Seattle took a 1-0 lead. Raleigh didn’t get the trident for long as on the very next pitch, Dylan Moore hit a moonshot down the left field line. The ball clanged off the foul pole for a solo home run and Moore’s second long ball of the season to double the lead 2-0. Seattle still wasn’t done as they did something they had not done since August 3rd of last season. That would be hitting three home runs in the same inning. Julio Rodriguez stepped to the plate with the bases empty and two outs and ended his homerless drought on a hanging splitter from Gausman. A 104-mph line drive sailed over the left field wall for Julio’s 14th of the season. The home run party was just getting started as the Mariners roared out to a 3-0 lead.

Toronto would then work their way onto the scoreboard. In the top of the 4th, a one-out double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave the Blue Jays a little bit of life. Matt Chapman would follow with a base hit right back up the middle. The throw from Julio in center would be off line which allowed Vladdy to score without a play at the plate and Toronto got one run back but still trailed 3-1.

Our neighbors to the north showed up to the home run party in the top of the 5th without an invitation. Kevin Kiermaier would punish a hanging slider from Gilbert to begin the inning with his fifth home run of the season to make it a one run game at 3-2. A little infield single for George Springer put the tying run on with one out as Brandon Belt stepped to the plate. The sound of bat hitting the ball is all you needed to hear to know that Brandon Belt had just launched his seventh home run in his first season in Toronto and more importantly had given the Jays their first lead at 4-3. One pitch later, that lead grew. After winning the Home Run Derby in T-Mobile Park, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. decided it was a good time to hit his first actual home run in that stadium. Vladdy smoked a splitter on the inner third out into the bullpen for his 16th home run of the season. Toronto answered with their own three home run inning and in doing so took a 5-3 lead over the Mariners.

It was necessary for the M’s to try to quell the Blue Jays momentum as soon as possible. No man was better equipped for the job than Canada’s number one enemy in Cal Raleigh. Leading off the bottom of the 5th, Cal got Gausman again. Gausman does not allow many home runs as he had only allowed nine coming into the game. Raleigh however seems to have no problem homering off the Toronto veteran as he took a fastball at the bottom of the zone and gave fans in the J-Rod Squad a souvenir in his second homer of the game and 14th of the season. Seattle was not ready to go away as they cut their deficit to one at 5-4.

After tiptoeing out of some trouble in the top of the 6th, Canadian Matt Brash could not do the same in the top of the 7th. After walking Brandon Belt to leadoff the inning, Brash would get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to groundout, which moved Belt to second, and got Matt Chapman swinging for two outs. Dalton Varsho would be able to catch up to a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner and sent it into center field. Belt was able to score from second on the two out single to make it 6-4 Toronto. Isaiah Campbell then came in from the bullpen but could not get Alejandro Kirk. The former All-Star snuck a grounder into right field that would be missed by Teoscar Hernandez and continue to roll by him. The error allowed Varsho to score with his speed from first and extend the lead to 7-4 for the Blue Jays late in the game. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases shortly after that, but George Springer grounded out to Eugenio Suarez at third to put an end to the big inning.

If we have learned anything over the past couple of seasons, it is that if their are outs left in the game, anything can happen when the Mariners and Blue Jays are playing one another. The bottom of the 7th strengthened that statement. Ty France was hit by the first pitch thrown by Toronto reliever Nate Pearson to put the leadoff man on. Dylan Moore followed a Cal Raleigh popout with a double to left center for his second double of the season to put runners on second and third with one out and the tying run coming to the plate. Kolten Wong worked the count full before coming up with his biggest hit as a Mariner. A fastball in the middle of the plater was ripped into right field for a base hit. France scored while Moore got the stop sign at third making it 7-5. Wong then stole his first base as a Mariner to put the tying run on second with one out. The most consistent Mariner of 2023 then broke Blue Jay hearts again. J.P. Crawford snuck a grounder by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first and down the right field line for a base hit. Moore and Wong scored easily as Crawford stood on second with his 21st double of the season and a brand new ballgame with the score tied 7-7.

Toronto would go back to their bullpen and bring in Yimi Garcia to try to shutdown the Mariner rally. He would be unsuccessful. Garcia hit Julio Rodriguez to put another runner on base. Eugenio Suarez would hit a weak fly ball into left field for the second out. That brought up game one hero and former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez. After walking off his team in the opener, Teo piled on in game two. After slicing a line drive just foul down the right field line, Hernandez made the adjustment on the next pitch. A changeup that stayed just above the knees was lined into the left field corner for a base hit. Crawford scored easily and Julio just beat the tag at the plate to score as well. Teo’s 17th double of the season had brought Seattle all the way back as the Mariners held a 9-7 lead.

Paul Sewald was given the day off after pitching back-to-back days, so Justin Topa pitched the top of the 9th for Seattle. Things would get a bit dicey. A single by Matt Chapman was followed by a strikeout of Dalton Varsho for the first out. Alejandro Kirk would get his third hit of the game with a single to center that moved Chapman to third. Whit Merrifield pinch ran for Kirk as the tying run at first with the go-ahead run in Cavan Biggio at the plate. Biggio couldn’t give the Blue Jays the lead, but he made things interesting. A base hit to center scored Chapman to make it 9-8 and moved Merrifield to third as the tying run with one out. You could feel the intensity as Kevin Kiermaier dug in to the batters box, but Topa would win this battle as he got Kiermaier to hit a flyball to shallow center field. Julio made the catch and Merrifield stayed at third with now two outs. Biggio would steal second to not only have the tying run at third, but the go-ahead run at second with George Springer at the plate. Springer would break his bat on a groundball that luckily was missed by Topa as he tried to kick it. Wong was waiting for it at second and threw out Springer to end a wild game with Seattle on top by a final score of 9-8.

Now, Seattle (50-48) will try to complete a big sweep on Sunday at 1:10pm. Bryan Woo (1-2, 4.74 ERA) will get his first taste of the Seattle-Toronto rivalry when he takes the mound for the Mariners. Woo had a rough outing against Minnesota on Tuesday but will try to bounce back from only his second clunker of the season. Toronto (54-45) will send Alek Manoah (2-8, 6.18 ERA) to the mound in the finale. After starting game one in the postseason last year for Toronto, 2023 has been a nightmare for Manoah. He just recently returned from Toronto’s Florida Complex League and looked better in his most recent outing.

Notable Performances

Blue Jays

• Brandon Belt- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R
• Kevin Gausman (ND)- 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 2-4, 2 HRs, 2 RBI, 2 R
• J.P. Crawford- 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Logan Gilbert (ND)- 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

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