Mariners hit into 3 double plays, commit 3 errors in ALCS Game 6

TORONTO — We knew the path to the promised land was always going to include a heavy dose of sky-high anxiety, right?

This is the Mariners, after all, the only organization to have never played in the World Series. If you were hoping for peaceful closure to this American League Championship Series on Sunday, youâ€re going to have to hang in for another night.

And after a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS, Seattle faces elimination for just the second time in these playoffs — with a winner-take-all Game 7 slated for Monday night, right back here at Rogers Centre.

Win, and they advance to play the Dodgers in the Fall Classic, beginning on Friday in Los Angeles. Lose, and this storybook season comes to a stunning end, compounded by what would be one of the franchiseâ€s more stinging finishes, given that they had series leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

“This game is very psychological over physical,†said first baseman Josh Naylor, who put the Mariners on the board with a solo homer in the sixth when they were down 5-0. “I think if you could beat someone down mentally, you’ll beat them physically right away.

“It’s sort of like boxing. I love watching boxing. Me and my dad watch boxing together all the time, and the great boxers beat someone down mentally, and then physically, it becomes one punch and you’re done.â€

What made Sundayâ€s loss more frustrating for Mariners fans who made the 2,500-mile trek to Toronto and the hundreds of thousands who watched back home in Seattle was that it featured one spoiled opportunity after another.

The Mariners on Sunday became the first team with three or more errors while grounding into three or more double plays in a playoff game since the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2009 ALCS.

Seattle twice had the bases loaded in the early going and twice hit into an inning-ending double play — in both the third and fourth innings — with precisely the players it would want up in those spots.

Cal Raleigh, whoâ€s tormented Toronto for his entire career, chopped a first-pitch splitter from Trey Yesavage that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielded to go 3-6-1. Then an inning later, J.P. Crawford — who has a 1.104 OPS in his Mariners career with the bases loaded — was on the hook for a 4-6-3, when rolling over an 0-2 splitter off the plate. Julio Rodríguez made it a hat trick in the fifth with another double play, though the Mariners only had one runner on then.

Per Elias, the Mariners are the third team over the last 10 years to ground into a double play in three straight innings during a postseason game, joining the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 NLCS and the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2024 ALCS. Those Yankees and the 1987 Giants (Game 7 of NLCS) are the only two teams since 1940 to do this during a potential series-clinching game.

“I thought I hit my ball hard,†Raleigh said. “Obviously, I’ve got to get it in the air, so no excuses there. J.P. is battling with two strikes. It’s just one of those things that it’s baseball. We were fighting up there, giving everything we could, and hit it right at guys.â€

Overall, the Mariners have been able to create traffic, but theyâ€ve struggled mightily to cash in since this series shifted to Seattle. Even including Eugenio Suárezâ€s incredible, game-winning grand slam in Game 5, the Mariners are just 6-for-40 (.150) with runners on base since Game 3.

“I think we did a good job of putting some pressure on at times, and sometimes you’re not going to come through,†Naylor said. “And that is what it is. It’s baseball. You can prepare as well as you can. You can feel the best you can. But sometimes, it’s just not going to go your way. And that is what it is. But I feel like we did have a lot of chances, and tomorrow we’ll come through with them.â€

Then there were the three errors, all of which directly led to Blue Jays runs.

Rodríguez bobbled a one-hopper in front of him in the left-center gap that turned a single into two bases for Daulton Varsho, who went on to score from second base easily on an RBI single into right field from Addison Barger in the second inning.

In that same inning, Suárez had trouble corralling a scorching grounder from speedster Ernie Clement, who reached to put two on with nobody out. Clement then scored from third base when Suárez attempted to barehand a slow roller but came up empty on the grab.

Then in the seventh, a wild pitch from Matt Brash with Guerrero on second base forced a rushed throw from Raleigh that sailed into left field and allowed Torontoâ€s all-world slugger to score easily. Guerrero also had a booming solo homer to lead off the fifth inning and end Logan Gilbertâ€s night.

“We could have played a maybe cleaner game,†Rodríguez said. “We definitely set the table a few times, but we couldn’t capitalize. And that’s part of the game, too. But they definitely played a good game. They put up some good swings.â€

Gilbert was tagged for five runs (four earned) and paid mightily for the mistake pitches he left over the plate, saying that the loss was “on me.†But that doesnâ€t quite paint the entire picture, because had a few at-bats gone the other way or multiple mistakes not been made, the Mariners mightâ€ve found themselves right back in it.

But they instead face a Game 7, where they still control their own destiny but also face the reality that anything can happen.

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