Blue Jays dig massive ALCS hole

M's in driver’s seat flying home to Pacific Northwest

What a difference consecutive post-season series can make in the fragile perception of what is half-full or half-empty. After the Blue Jays had dominated the Yankees, winning the ALDS in four games, they moved on to play the 2-seed Mariners. In less than 48 hours, the unbridled joy of a week ago has turned to fear and trepidation.

One Monday night, Game 2 of the ALCS at Rogers Centre, in front of 44,814 fans, there was little to be thankful for on this Canadian Thanksgiving, as the home side served up their second consecutive turkey, overcooked and dry, this time losing by a dismal 10-3 to the Mariners. They now head to the Pacific Northwest down two games in the best-of-seven series, looking for a berth in the 2025 World Series.

What a change of fortune this has become in a very short time, from the Yankees series that brought them to this point, brimming with a gravy boat of optimism.

What has changed for the Jays?

Thus far in the M’s series, starting pitchers have stumbled and the bullpen has floundered. The offence has dried up. Consider that the key quartet of Vlad Guerrero Jr, Daulton Varsho, Addison Barger and Andres Gimenez have combined, in Games 1-2, to go 0-for-26, with four bases-on-balls. This is an essential core of basically the same lineup that posted a bushel of runs in four ALDS games against the Bombers.

Winning this series is not an impossible task facing the Jays, in losing the first two at home then being asked to come back and extend this seven-game series, bringing it home for Games 6-7. That scenario has happened as recently as the 2023 ALCS with the Texas Rangers winning Games 1-2 in Houston, then being swept at home in the middle three games, before going back to Houston. The Rangers won both games at Minute Maid and advanced to the Fall Classic against the Diamondbacks.

What the Jays must surely focus on is winning Game 3, because, simple math, when the trailing team wins the third game, one team will be up 2-1 and the other will be down 2-1. At that point, it’s game on. Wednesday’s game at T-Mobile is clearly a must-win for John Schneider and his team. He remains outwardly optimistic.

“I’m always going to have optimism about this team,” Schneider said. “Just looking at it as a whole, we got to figure out some ways to generate more offence. Give the guys a ton of credit for coming back, down three (runs) to tie it. They just made more swings than us is what it comes down to. We’ve got to figure out a way to limit damage and generate more offence.”

That’s not as easy as it seems, unless someone steps up to lead.

This was not the Trey Yesavage of the Yankee series. After 5.1 no-hit innings with electric, swing-and-miss combination of four-seam fastball and splitter, this was not the case in his follow-up effort against the M’s. The 22-year-old rookie hit Randy Arozarena on a full count, walked Cal Raleigh then allowed a three-run blast to Julio Rodriguez that just stayed fair down the left field line and put his team in a deep hole. That was before he retired his first M’s hitter.

How could the results be so different? There were some indication that the big stage and the glare of the spotlight may have affected him in that first inning. The adrenaline was pumping, even with the choice of no sleeves on a cool night with the roof open. Were there other conflicting thoughts bouncing around for the kid?

Consider that after attacking Arozarena with two quick strikes, the M’s left fielder wisely waited until Yesavage came set on the rubber, staring in, then called his timeout. Yesavage, instead of stepping off, taking a deep breath and regrouping, remained like a statue on the rubber, not moving for 15 seconds, staring in defiantly. When the hitter stepped back in, the kid rocked into his abbreviated windup and spiked a splitter, then adding two more non-competitive pitches to go full, before clipping Randy on the left side. Fourteen pitches later, it was 3-0, still with nobody out.

There was more.

This was not the Vlad Guerrero Jr. of the Yankees series, the one that swigged beer in the postgame and gleefully joined David Ortiz in mocking the Yankees and broadcaster John Sterling’s signature radio call. No, this Vlad was 0-for-3 with a walk after enduring a Game 1 performance of 0-for-4.

This was not the Daulton Varsho of the Yankees series. Defensively, this was his worst game, possibly of the season. He took a strange route to catch a linedrive off the bat of Josh Naylor to end the third and then, uncharacteristically, crashed a shoulder into the fence in left centre as he was setting himself to leap for the spectacular catch, instead allowing a triple to Mitch Garver. And at the plate, Varsho was a non-threatening 0-for-4 to remain hitless in the series.

“Kind of a weird read,” Schneider admitted of his platinum glove outfielder. “Maybe it was the wind got a little chilly and that’s a ball Varshy catches with his eyes closed. Garver hit it pretty well, but whenever a ball goes to centre field and doesn’t leave the park, you expect Varshy’s going to catch it. It was kind of a weird route, which is the last thing you think of when it goes there.”

Back in August, the Blue Jays bullpen was what fans worried about, then down the stretch, it stepped up and was better than the rotation. Now, when it counts the most, the relief corps has rejoined the list of things Jays fans need to worry about.

Already in the first two games, the pen has inherited three baserunners from starting pitchers and immediately disinherited all of them. They need to do better.

In Game 1, lefty Brendan Little entered for Gausman with a man on first. He threw a wild pitch, then allowed a single by Jorge Polanco scoring him. In Game 2, Louis Varland inherited runners on first and second from Yesavage. Varland struck out J-Rod, then yielded a Polanco three-run homer. Later in Game 2, another reliever, Yariel Rodriguez faced three M’s hitters … and walked them all.

“It’s one of those things that it just magnifies in the post-season, for sure,” Schneider reasoned. “But you have to keep it up and trust the guys.”

The League Championship series continues with the ball next handed to Shane Bieber and, likely, to Max Scherzer in Games 3-4. The legacy duo will no doubt be supported by what has become a diminished circle of trust that is the Blue Jays beleaguered bullpen. The task? Win two of three or go home. It’s that simple.