Is a Blue Jays Offensive Explosion Just Around the Corner?

Ever wonder what it feels like to watch history tiptoe right before your very eyes? Well, that’s exactly the vibe brewing in the baseball playoffs as the Mariners teeter on the edge of blissful desperation – just three wins shy of their inaugural World Series berth. It’s a wild ride, folks! The spin of the postseason has been anything but predictable — extra innings stretching into the 15th, mound maestros dueling it out like gladiators, and bats sending homers soaring like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays, nursing the sting of yesterday’s loss and the loss of home-field advantage, find themselves with their backs against the wall and a young arm taking the mound with all eyes on him. Can Seattle keep that hot streak alive, or is this the night the Jays snap out of their slump and roar back? It’s a tantalizing chess match between youth and experience, stamina and strategy, and maybe… just maybe, a sprinkle of fate. Ready for the drama? Let’s dive in. LEARN MORE

Mariners vs. Blue Jays, 5:03 ET

The baseball playoffs have been as good as advertised. Perhaps, they have been even better than advertised. Think about it this way: We have gotten extra-inning games (one that went to the 15th), we have had pitchers’ duels, home run barrages, and we have seen multiple series go to the brink with do-or-die games. These are all good things for the sport and for the fans. We have three teams that remain, who combined haven’t won a World Series in 135 years. The Brewers and Mariners have never had a championship in their history. Today, the Mariners are three games away from making their first World Series ever, and they have a chance to go up 2-0 on the Blue Jays.

Investing in your team, even when they don’t look quite as crisp as you would hope, seems to be the right thing to do. Let’s take a look at the Mariners’ season: at the start of the second half of the season, they were 51-45. Not bad, but not exactly setting the world on fire. In fact, it was questionable if they could make the postseason at that point. They were behind the Astros in the division, and they were chasing the Yankees, Red Sox, and a couple of other teams for a Wild Card berth. It was likely they would make it, but far from a guarantee. The team decided they needed to invest into the team. The offense needed more bats in the lineup. They brought in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez. Their lineup went from okay, to being incredibly deep. Add in a monster season from Cal Raleigh and this team caught fire, took the division, and has been one of the hottest when it mattered most. Today they look to keep rolling after taking Game 1 with Logan Gilbert on the mound. Keep in mind, Gilbert came in relief for the Mariners the other day when they were facing the Tigers in Game 5. So he is pitching on very short rest, again. He allowed three hits and one walk over two innings of work. He did have one start against Toronto this year, going 4.2 innings and allowing two earned runs.

The Blue Jays have to be a bit frustrated by their loss from yesterday. It isn’t the end of the series, or the end of the world, but you did give up home-field advantage and now have to take a game in Seattle if you want to win. They started the game as great as you can possibly start it with George Springer hitting a homer to lead off. That gave them a 1-0 lead that they carried until their starter, Kevin Gausman, was out of the game. The rest of the game, the Blue Jays got just one hit. They’ve been hitless for seven straight innings. They did that against a guy who had a 5+ ERA for the season. That’s arguably the worst starting pitcher they’ve faced this postseason. You can’t let Raleigh get going, and Jorge Polanco is proving he is a clutch postseason performer. Either way, the pitching for Toronto was fine, but you’re not winning many games with just two hits. They had only four left on base, and were 0-4 with runners in scoring position. Today, they send out Trey Yesavage to the mound. He made one postseason start so far, and allowed just five hits and two walks over five scoreless innings. They are entrusting some very big innings to a young pitcher, but, at the moment, he seems like he is responding well to them. He’s never faced the Mariners, but I’d doubt he gets to face them more than once through the lineup anyway.

Simply put the Blue Jays need to get some offense in order to win this one. Yesavage could have a game that at least keeps them in position to win. Gilbert is a good pitcher, but he is basically an opener in this one. If they get more than three innings out of him, I’d be very surprised. I’m going to take Toronto here as I think this is the game we start to really see arm fatigue set in for the Mariners. I’ll back Toronto on the moneyline.

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