Comeback kid Jays begin climb back into ALCS with blowout of Mariners

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There was a lot that was impressive about how the Blue Jays rose from the basement to contender status in one 162-game MLB season.

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Top of the list was their well-earned reputation as players who lose but never go out, leading the major leagues with 49 comeback wins.

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However, it's one thing to turn things around in a nine-inning game, but quite another to climb out of an 0-2 hole in a best-of-seven playoff series.

But on Wednesday night in Seattle, the Blue Jays showed their powerful side, crushing the Mariners 13-4, taking the first — and rather gigantic — step toward returning to the American League Championship Series.

They did it with a win over solid Mariners pitcher George Kirby and a stellar performance from their starter trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber.

And in doing all this, they largely silenced the sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park, where there were thousands fewer Toronto fans in the stands than during the Jays' regular-season visit.

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There's still a lot of work to be done, but here are our takeaways from the impressive win over the AL East champions.

WHAT THE HELL?

After a “here we go again” moment in the bottom of the first – a two-run homer from the M's Julio Rodriguez – the Jays dominated.

The team, which had scored just four runs on a modest eight hits in the first two games, erupted repeatedly. With five fourths and four runs in the sixth on Wednesday, the Jays turned things around with 18 hits.

In other words, it was more of a high-scoring offense that scored 34 runs in four games against the New York Yankees in the ALDS.

The Mariners, meanwhile, retreated, failing to score another run behind Rodriguez's pace-setter in the first, until Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh hit back-to-back bombs in the eighth.

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HOW DID THEY DO THIS?

Attack, attack, attack.

Before the game, manager John Schneider said the team was starting to hit shots to do damage rather than take small hits here and there.

This is an ideal way for the team to make it clear that things are not going to stop.

And it was clear that the message from Schneider and hitting coach David Hopkins was to hunt for fastballs from Seattle starter George Kirby.

After playing harmlessly in the first two games, the Jays' hitters were determined to do some damage.

In fact, Schneider admitted as much in a between-innings interview with FOX reporter Ken Rosenthal.

“We try to be aggressive against his fastball,” Schneider said. “Don't just try to play a little ping pong and beat them. Understand, they're attacking us with fastballs.”

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That approach worked perfectly in the blockbuster fourth, which ended with a home run by No. 9 hitter Andres Jimenez, one of four Jay long balls on the night—George Springer, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger as additions in the ninth joined that group.

Add four takes to that and the attack mode is in full force.

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THE POWER OF VLAD

After going 0-for-7 in the first two games of the series, Guerrero Jr. took over, which falls into territory for the team's highest-paid player.

When he rocks like he did on Wednesday, he's the man. Guerrero was 4-for-4 when his team needed him most, including that big homer in the fifth, a 406-foot blast to center field. One batter later, Kirby, the M's starter, was ejected from the game.

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We've argued since the start of the postseason that for the Jays to have a chance to go deep, they'll need Guerrero at his best. Well, with four homers in seven playoff games, he did it. It's a striking change of form from the end of the regular season, when he needed four goals in his final 37 games.

What are the chances?

The ramifications of Wednesday's loss were clear for the Jays, and few would have given the team a chance to return to Toronto for Game 6 had that been the outcome.

In fact, teams that lead 3–0 in best-of-seven MLB postseason series have won 40 of 41 times. Truly intimidating.

The odds are still stacked against the Jays, but teams winning Game 3 after being down 0-2 in a seven-game series have won 14 of 52 times.

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WHAT'S NEXT?

Another difficult task that will quickly confront fans.

There will be some trepidation as the Jays send Max Scherzer out for Game 4 on Thursday night. But the Jays are counting on the 41-year-old's long rest to help him return to early-summer form rather than his September struggles that forced him out of the lineup for the ALDS series against the Yankees.

The Mariners will face tough right-hander Luis Castillo.

A Jays win on Thursday or Friday night would guarantee the series returns to Toronto for at least a sixth game Sunday night at Rogers Center.

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