M's take two in Toronto for commanding ALCS lead

TORONTO -- J.P. Crawford, the longest-tenured subordinate of the Seattle Mariners, has experienced antithetic tastes of disappointment successful his 7 seasons successful the Pacific Northwest. A last-place finish. Falling conscionable abbreviated of reaching the postseason 3 times. Playoff exhilaration getting abruptly extinguished the 1 twelvemonth they did marque it.

Sometime aboriginal this season, the shortstop explained aft the Mariners completed possibly the astir important roadworthy travel successful franchise past with a 10-3 triumph implicit the Toronto Blue Jays to instrumentality a 2-0 pb successful the American League Championship Series, helium believed this squad was different.

"We cognize we're a bully team," Crawford said. "And present everyone knows that we tin bash this happening and that's what's lighting the occurrence underneath everyone."

The Mariners are present conscionable 2 wins from doing the happening -- winning their archetypal American League pennant and advancing to the World Series for the archetypal clip successful franchise past -- with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday astatine T-Mobile Park. It is the archetypal clip they've ever led an ALCS by aggregate games. It is the 28th clip successful postseason past that the roadworthy squad has won the archetypal 2 games of a best-of-seven series. Only 3 of those clubs went connected to suffer the series.

"We deliberation astir it," said 2nd baseman Jorge Polanco, who swatted a go-ahead three-run location tally successful the 5th inning to springiness Seattle a pb they didn't relinquish. "We perceive it a lot. We know. But the mentality is conscionable support it simple. Just effort to refocus connected playing crippled by game."

Less than 24 hours aft the Mariners, wearied coming disconnected an affectional 15-inning triumph successful Game 5 of the AL Division Series connected Friday, stole Game 1 with a late-inning comeback fueled by adrenaline, they opted for a little melodramatic blueprint successful Game 2.

Instead, the Mariners pounded 3 location runs and got six scoreless innings from 3 relievers to implicit Monday's demolition wrong an open-roofed Rogers Centre connected Canadian Thanksgiving earlier heading backmost to Seattle to perchance adjacent retired the series.

The Mariners did not discarded clip successful inflicting dense harm against a pitcher they had ne'er seen before. Trey Yesavage was 8 days removed from holding the New York Yankees hitless implicit 5 ⅓ innings successful his 4th vocation commencement successful Game 2 of the ALDS. His abnormally precocious merchandise constituent and limb angle, combined with a fastball-splitter operation helium uncorks from implicit the top, overwhelmed the Yankees.

The Mariners entered the brushwood with a elemental gameplan to debar falling unfortunate to the splitter, a transportation that the Yankees went 0-for-11 connected with 8 strikeouts: If it's low, fto it go. Wait for a mistake up successful the portion and bash not miss.

Julio Rodriguez did not miss. Three batters into the game, aft Randy Arozarena was deed by a transportation and Cal Raleigh walked, Yesavage threw a mistake splitter to Rodriguez up and implicit the sheet successful a 1-2 number that Rodríguez cracked down the left-field enactment for a three-run shot.

It was the archetypal location tally Yesavage has allowed successful his little major-league vocation -- helium had antecedently surrendered conscionable 2 extra-base hits successful 4 starts -- and the archetypal extra-base deed of immoderate assortment he's surrendered with his splitter astatine this level.

"I consciousness similar astatine the e...