MARINERS CLUB BLUE JAYS, SPRINT OUT TO 2-0 ALCS LEAD
TORONTO — Jorge Polanco continues to deliver when it counts for the Mariners, and as a result, Seattle heads home with a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.
The second baseman’s three-run homer in the fifth inning on Monday snapped a tie in Game 2 and propelled the Mariners to a 10-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Polanco also had the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning of Game 1 during Seattle’s 3-1 victory and the game-ending hit on Friday in the 15th inning against the Detroit Tigers in the decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series.
According to OptaSTATS, he is the first player in major league history to have a go-ahead hit in the fifth inning or later in three consecutive postseason games.
“He’s coming up huge in big moments,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of the switch hitter. “Just his at-bats have been so good, again, whether it’s right-handed or left-handed. Tonight it was left-handed.”
Polanco had help on Monday. Julio Rodriguez also hit a three-run shot three batters into the game and Josh Naylor added a two-run blast among his three hits for the Mariners, who will host the next three games of the best-of-seven series starting Wednesday.
Losing the first two at home puts the Blue Jays in a precarious position.
“Always going to have optimism about this team,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “We’ve got to figure out ways to generate some more offense. Give the guys a ton of credit for coming back down three, you tie it. (The Mariners) just made more swings than us the last two games is kind of what it comes down to.”
Seattle scored three in the first against Trey Yesavage (1-1). Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch, Cal Raleigh walked and Rodriguez slugged a 1-2 splitter to left for his second homer of the postseason.
Toronto answered with two in the bottom of the inning against Logan Gilbert. George Springer doubled to left and scored when first baseman Naylor threw wildly to Gilbert, who was covering first on Nathan Lukes’ grounder. Alejandro Kirk lined an RBI two-out single to center.
Ernie Clement scooped a single to center to open the home second and advanced to third on two groundouts. Springer walked before Lukes lined an RBI single to right to tie the game at 3.
Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho kept the score tied in the third with his diving backhand catch of Eugenio Suarez’s two-out liner with two out and runners at the corners.
Eduard Bazardo (1-0) replaced Gilbert, who allowed three runs (two earned), five hits and one walk with two strikeouts in three innings.
Yesavage was replaced by Louis Varland with no outs in the fifth after Arozarena reached second on an infield hit and throwing error and Raleigh was intentionally walked. Polanco drilled a 1-1 fastball to center for his third homer of the postseason.
“A huge turnaround for us after giving up the lead,” Wilson said. “He’s a tough out right now. It’s been phenomenal.”
Yesavage was charged with five runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in four-plus innings.
Seattle pinch hitter Mitch Garver led off the sixth with a triple off the center field wall against Mason Fluharty. Pinch runner Leo Rivas scored on J.P. Crawford’s one-out bloop single to left.
“We know we’re a good team, and now everyone knows that we can do this thing,” Crawford said. “And I think that’s what’s lighting the fire underneath everyone.”
In the seventh, Polanco singled with one out and Naylor, a native of nearby Mississauga, Ontario, hit his first homer of the playoffs against Braydon Fisher. He is the first Canadian-born player to homer in the postseason as a visiting player in Canada.
“It’s got to feel great in front of the home folks,” Wilson said. “You know it feels good going around the bases. A lot of history here for him, and his family is here, so it’s got to feel great.”
“But again, he’s all about the team. He’s all about winning. He’s all about doing what it takes.”
As the seventh continued, Yariel Rodriguez took over on the mound for Toronto, walked the bases loaded and was replaced by Chris Bassitt. Crawford lined a sacrifice fly to center.
Schneider maintains his faith in his bullpen is unshaken.
“I’m going to continue to trust them, for one, and I’m going to continue to trust everyone that either starts the game or comes in,” he said. “Sometimes bullpens can be volatile. There’s certain situations where you’re chasing matchups, you’re chasing velo, you’re chasing stuff for certain guys. The first two games it hasn’t worked out.”
Toronto’s Anthony Santander (back tightness) was a late scratch.
DODGERS BARELY PRESERVE BLAKE SNELL’S WIN IN NLCS OPENER
MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers did just enough extra to avoid wasting Blake Snell’s dominant pitching performance.
Snell allowed just one hit over eight scoreless innings and the Dodgers held on for a 2-1 victory when the Milwaukee Brewers left the bases loaded in the ninth inning of the National League Championship Series opener on Monday.
“That team’s going to fight. They’re going to fight until the end,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the Brewers. “We know what we’re up against. You just want to hope guys make pitches, keep making pitches.”
Freddie Freeman hit a solo homer in the sixth inning and Los Angeles increased the lead to 2-0 in the top of the ninth when Mookie Betts drew a bases-loaded walk.
Roki Sasaki replaced Snell to open the bottom of the ninth and issued a one-out walk to Isaac Collins. Pinch hitter Jake Bauers followed with a ground-rule double to center, forcing Collins to halt at third. Jackson Chourio followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 2-1.
Christian Yelich walked before Blake Treinen took over on the mound and walked William Contreras to load the bases. Treinen then fanned Brice Turang swinging on a 2-2 fastball for the save.
“You’ve got to give credit to those guys,” Roberts said. “They took the walks. They kept the line moving. And ultimately, we had to put the ball over the plate. And Blake fortunately had a good at-bat versus Turang.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Snell (3-0) allowed only a leadoff single in the third to Caleb Durbin, and then, one out later, picked him off first. Snell struck out 10 and did not walk a batter in a 103-pitch outing.
“We faced one of the best pitchers in the game,” Yelich said. “He was on. When he’s executing like that, it’s going to be a tough night. We’ve got a lot of young guys in here, a lot of these guys first time facing him. He did a great job tonight. You’ve got to give him credit, sometimes. Just proud of the guys for battling to the end.”
Freeman snapped a scoreless tie in the sixth with his first homer of the postseason, a one-out solo shot to right on a 3-2 pitch from Chad Patrick (0-1).
The Brewers escaped a bases-loaded situation in the fourth with a bizarre inning-ending double play.
Bulk reliever Quinn Priester walked Teoscar Hernandez to open the frame, and Will Smith and Tommy Edman delivered consecutive one-out singles.
Max Muncy then sent a deep fly that center fielder Sal Frelick deflected high off the wall and back into his glove, forcing the runners to delay. Shortstop Joey Ortiz fired the relay home for a forceout. Catcher Contreras then ran to third and tagged the bag for another forceout.
The Brewers escaped again in the fifth when Enrique Hernandez hit a leadoff double and Shohei Ohtani was walked intentionally with one out. Betts then bounced into another inning-ending double play.
The Dodgers’ ninth-inning run came off Abner Uribe, who gave up one hit and walked three in his lone frame. Six pitchers worked for the Brewers, including Priester, who threw four shutout innings.
Milwaukee, which had the best record in baseball with a franchise-record 97 victories, went 6-0 in the regular season against the Dodgers, sweeping home-and-away three-game series.
“We knew coming into this series they play great defense, they pitch, they get the big hits when they need to,” Freeman said. “That’s just who the Brewers are.”
BREWERS CONFIDENT FREDDY PERALTA WILL DELIVER IN GAME 2 VS. DODGERS
MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers rode a great starting-pitching performance to a win in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
The Milwaukee Brewers hope ace right-hander Freddy Peralta can deliver a similar effort as they look to level the best-of-seven series in Game 2 on Tuesday.
Peralta (1-1, 4.66 ERA postseason) will be opposed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1, 2.53).
The defending champion Dodgers hung on to take the opener 2-1 on Monday after Blake Snell threw eight innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. Freddy Freeman’s sixth-inning solo homer accounted for all the scoring until the Dodgers added a run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk.
The Brewers answered with a run in the bottom half, but they left the bases loaded when Blake Treinen fanned Brice Turang for the final out.
“That run in the top of the ninth was huge, obviously 20-20 hindsight,” Freeman said postgame. “But getting on the road in an environment and taking the first one, it’s huge. You can’t understate that at all. Just kind of how we did it in (the NL Division Series at) Philly. To get the first one, and you turn it over to Yoshi tomorrow and we’re obviously feeling pretty good.”
Peralta was 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA during the regular season, leading the National League in victories. He recorded a 1-1 record with a 3.52 ERA in five September starts, but he went past five innings just once in the month.
Peralta fired 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS, then lost Game 4 after permitting three runs in four innings on Thursday.
“I like our chances when he’s out there,” teammate Christian Yelich said postgame Monday night. “He’s a great pitcher and gives a shot to win. So now, flush this one and get ready for tomorrow.”
Peralta is 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA in eight career regular-season starts vs. the Dodgers. He won both his starts against them this season, allowing four runs in 11 innings.
Peralta also faced the Dodgers once each as a reliever in the 2018 NLCS and in a 2020 NL wild-card series, throwing a combined four innings and yielding one run.
Yamamoto finished 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA in 30 starts during the regular season. He faced the Brewers for the first time this season, and it was the shortest outing of his two-year career. He lasted just two-thirds of an inning on July 7 in Milwaukee, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits and two walks in a 9-1 loss.
Yamamoto has allowed five runs, three earned, in 10 2/3 innings in his two postseason starts. His last time out, he allowed three runs on six hits in four innings in an 8-2 loss to the Phillies in the NLDS on Wednesday.
Los Angeles starters have a 1.65 ERA during the postseason, having limited opponents to a .141 batting average.
“I think we’ve been saying it for about a month now going into the postseason: Our starting pitching is what has made us play better going into October,” Freeman said. “We always were talking about how we’re playing our best baseball leading up to this postseason, and it started with our pitching staff. ”
The Brewers were 6-0 in the regular season against the Dodgers, sweeping home-and-away three-game series.
Of the 17 teams that won the first two games of the NLCS under the current best-of-seven format, 14 went on to advance to the World Series.
