By Charles Hamaker 

Seattle, WA – Living up to its name, the Wild Card series between our Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays etched another well written chapter in the book of the 2022 Seattle ballclub. Games one and two were nearly polar opposites of each other in the way that they played out, but the only thing that matters is that at the end of each, the Mariners were doing their celebratory dance. After overcoming a seven-run deficit in a hostile environment, it feels like this Mariners team could do some serious damage in these playoffs. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at the series.  

Mariner fans rallied behind the idea of the “rally shoe” (Photo by Liv Lyons)

Game one 

The first Mariners playoff game in 21-years looked a lot like most of this season for Seattle: great pitching, and an offense that struck early and then decided to take a nap. The bats struck first for the Mariners, who found first inning success against Toronto ace pitcher Alek Manoah. After Julio Rodriguez (hit by pitch) was scored on an RBI base hit, a two-run homer by Cal Raleigh silenced the previously raucous Blue Jays crowd inside of the Rogers Centre. Manoah got tagged for all four runs that Seattle plated, as in the top of the fifth Julio Rodriguez scored again, this time as Eugenio Suarez reached base on a fielder's choice.  

On the defensive side of the diamond, Luis Castillo was absolutely brilliant. The Mariners got the kind of performance that they expected from Castillo when they traded for him, as their ace went 7.1 innings. Castillo shut out the ever-dangerous bats of Toronto. While giving up seven hits (the same amount as Seattle had, but obviously with differing results), Castillo mitigated minor trouble and had an ice-in-his-veins kind of outing in the great white North. Andres Munoz pitched 1.2 innings of flamethrowing relief to close out the Blue Jays, putting the cherry on top of the Mariners first playoff win since October 20th of 2001.  

Game two 

Game two is a contest that I still can’t really wrap my head around. With Robbie Ray on the mound against his former team, you figured he was going to come out with his best work. That was not the case after a scoreless first inning, as Ray only lasted three innings, allowing four runs on six hits. The 2021 AL Cy Young winner never really found his groove, and got yanked quickly. The Mariners had to use a total of six relievers in the ballgame, and one of the team's best in Paul Sewald had another poor outing. Sewald gave up four runs on only three hits, and couldn’t even get out of the inning that he appeared in. While we just highlighted the negative aspect of the pitching side, it was the 24-year-old George Kirby came in to record the first save of his career, putting the cap on a gigantic offensive comeback. 

That aforementioned comeback really began in the top of the sixth inning, when Carlos Santana slammed a three-run homer to left field to bring shave the Toronto lead to three. Toronto did answer with a run of their own, but from that point on it was all Seattle. A Cal Raleigh RBI single in the top of the eighth began the party, and a JP Crawford bases loaded clearing double sent the Blue Jays-loving Rogers Centre into a hushed shock. In the top of the ninth, it was Adam Frazier’s RBI double scoring Cal Raliegh that completed the comeback for the Mariners, and left everyone in Toronto wondering if it was all a really, really bad nightmare.  

Mariner fans were overcome with various emotions after the game two win became official (Photos by Liv Lyons)

Reflection 

This series showed that the Mariners are not happily complacent with putting an end to the franchises 21-year playoff drought, they fully intend on making some noise in the postseason. Seattle’s pitching and defense will keep them in games and give them as great a chance as anybody in these playoffs, but as mentioned on our episode of CSS on Converge before the postseason began: the bats will determine how far this team goes. If Seattle can get its “usual” performances from Julio Rodriguez, Mitch Haniger, Eugenio Suarez, Ty France, and Cal Raleigh, they should be able to hang around a bit. What the other four batters in the lineup do will be the ultimate X-factor  

Quick notes 

• Game one stats 

• Cal Raleigh is the first player in Mariners history to hit a home run in his first career Postseason at-bat. 

• The Mariners have shutout their opponent in the Postseason for the 2nd time in franchise history. Previous shutout came on, Oct. 10, 2000, in Game 1 of the ALCS at New York-AL. 

• Seattle’s game two comeback stats 

• Tied for the second largest comeback win in MLB postseason history 

• Largest comeback win in MLB postseason history by a road team 

• Largest comeback win in MLB postseason history by a team attempting to clinch a playoff series  

• The seven-run comeback victory marks the largest postseason comeback win in franchise history, surpassing the five-run comeback on Oct. 7, 1995 in Game 4 of the ALDS vs. New York-AL. 

• George Kirby is the first rookie in MLB history to record a save in the postseason in his first career relief appearance. 

What’s next? 

Seattle will head to face AL West rival Houston in the ALDS. The last time the Mariners were in the postseason (21-years ago) was the last time they reached this stage, and in order to get to the ALCS, Seattle will have to face the big bully. In comparison to previous years, the 2022 Mariners relatively held their own against Houston, going 7-12 on the year head-to-head. All of these games took place before this Mariners team really began to fully hit its groove (the last series between the two wrapped up right after the All-Star break) and the roster looked different. I am not guaranteeing a Mariners advancing scenario, but I will expect Seattle to put up a strong fight.  

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