MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners SHUT DOWN TORONTO BATS in Game 1 of ALCS

MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners SHUT DOWN TORONTO BATS in Game 1 of ALCS

[Music] This is the Mariners Post Cast, your instant game reaction for the Seattle Mariners, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Wow. Uh what a huge win. Game one of the ALCS goes the Mariners way. Uh, it’s just, uh, I don’t even know how to describe it at this point because, uh, you get so many herculean efforts. I’m using a Chris Crawford term there. It starts with Bryce Miller. Uh, it continues with Cal Raleigh. It continues with Jorge Palano. Uh, the bullpen. Uh, you could throw Julio Rodriguez in there as well. So many awesome performances just two days after going 15 innings against the Detroit Tigers in game five. While Toronto was sitting there waiting for you with their ace, you throw out your fourth best pitcher on short rest and you get the game one win in the ALCS. Just fantastic. You You stole a game. It’s I don’t think it’s overstating that you stole this game and and the Mariners were the better team. I think besides that first pitch from Bryce Miller, you got a ton tonight. We’ll talk about Bryce Miller start. We’ll talk about big dumper coming up huge. We’ll talk about Jorge Palano coming up huge. We’ll talk about this bullpen today. But Chris Crawford, I want to know your thoughts as the Mariners win game one of the ALCS. I I I’ I’ve just got to be completely honest with everyone. I didn’t think they stood a chance of winning this game. I thought there was no freaking way. And it was because of everything that could have possibly been going against you. You have your fifth best starter at best going against what I still believe is their best starter. The guy who’s pitching game two might have something to say about it. But their most reliable starter, the guy you know you’re going to get the most against, you have a team that is traveling across the country from Seattle, Washington to Toronto, whatever province it’s in. And you have everything going against you and you come out with a win here. And I don’t think you can overstate how massive this is. I don’t think you can overstate it. And a ton of credit to all 26 dudes today. Even the ones who didn’t play. Even the ones who didn’t play to come out and have an effort like this where you were clearly the base better baseball team for the last eight as well. Clearly the better baseball team for the last eight innings. It makes game two now and you know we’re just talking about game one, but you have to weigh in the fact that game two is now icing. Game two is now an icing game. And it’s a chance for some delicious icing like Costco cheesecake icing. Like the type of icing that you want to live on. Icing. Oh, this is such a big win. And there are so many people who deserve such plottits for being able to take this one. I am steal one from my grandma. Pleased as punch. As punch indeed. And uh what a like we’ve been doing this all year and I think it’s the perfect time to do this again. Let’s start with the start cuz oh my goodness uh considering the circumstances, considering the expectations, considering the stakes, this might have been the greatest Mariners start in this postseason crisscross. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, especially when you consider the level of expectation, right? Because yes, I thought we were going to get three or four out of Bryson. Feel pretty good about it, you know, like, hey, okay, you know, sets you up pretty well for game two, you know, maybe you didn’t have to use the high leverage guys. That’s how negative I was. And it wasn’t because of a disbelief in this team. It was just situational, right? And the fact that Bryce Miller for the majority of this year has been a bad baseball player. He’s been a bad pitcher. There’s a reason for it. It’s injury related. It has anything to do with nothing to do with injuries, but oh my gosh. So, first inning, very first pitch, he misses the PL uh strike, misses his excuse me, where he wants that ball to go. It leaks out over the plate. George Springer puts a terrific swing on it. It’s one- nothing. Nathan Lukes has one of the best at bats you’ll see. And I think struck out. I think it was strike three. We could talk about the umpire factor again after not being a factor in game five, but he issues that walk. He gets Vlatty to hit a piss missile right to Julio Rodriguez and I’m not feeling good. And then the next batter walks and I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is going to be ugly. If he can keep it to two runs, I’m going to feel great.” Not only did he keep it to just the one run, I think he gave up one base runner for the rest of that game. Yeah, he was phenomenal. phenomenal. And it’s here’s another case of where look, strikeouts are the best. Strikeouts are what you should go for. You don’t have to strike guys out to get batters out though. And was there some hard contact that went unrewarded for the Jays in this game? Yeah, absolutely there was. But for the most part, Bryce Miller was shoving, locating everything and changing eye levels. That’s what made Bryce pitcher their best pitcher at the end of 2024. changing eye levels with the fast ball and the splitty. Today it was more the fast ball and the curve ball, but it was still effective regardless. Yep. I don’t think you can over the biggest thing for me, not just the one run, getting six from Yes. It’s the length with when you had no guys left in the tank in terms of nor compared to what you normally would have. It was so huge. And it wasn’t like, oh, let’s just kind of stretch him out and kind of get as many much as we can. He was great today. Regular season, he’s probably going another inning. Regular season, he’s probably going one more. But I totally get that call. Real um not real quick. Um the bullpen usage today I loved from Dan Wilson. Yes. Loved it. A lot of people were wondering about Gabe Spire there. Gabe Spire vers 678 is the perfect time to use Gabe Spire after he had struggled. Dalton Var show can’t hit left-handed pitching. Ernie Clement, I know we had a really good series against the Yankees. I still feel pretty confident in Gabe Spire getting that guy out. And yeah, gosh, I don’t even remember who’s hitting eighth for Toronto right now, but that’s the perfect time to use Gabe Spire. Perfect time. You show trust in him, but you’re also showing a little bit of uh we got to be a little careful here, too. We don’t want to use this guy. Obviously, you wouldn’t be using him against Vlatty no matter what. Like, unless you’re like down all of your relievers, but that’s a great usage of Dan Wilson. Matt Brash continues to just look phenomenal. And Andre Munoz, man, he’s The idea that there were people questioning this guy as a closer still makes me mad. Just absolutely pisses me off because this guy’s as good of a closer as anyone in baseball. That slider today was so freaking good. He dominated Vlatty Jr. That was the middle of that order and he dominated it. What an unbelievable job by that bullpen. Yeah. And let let’s not forget like this isn’t just this is another level of domination because of who you were facing. This is a Toronto team that came in scorching hot. Uh and they lit up a decent Yankees pitching staff. At least decent. Sure. Uh, and I get the matchup wasn’t great. Oh, I think Anders froze. You guys can let me know if Andrew froze. Um, yeah. I I’m sorry if I’m talking over you, Anders. It could be me frozing, but I think it might be your internet there. Um, chat, let me know. Um, I I don’t think that you can overstate how good the pitching staff was here. Anders, if you can hear me, just exit and come back in and we’ll do a quick commercial break. Um, I don’t think you can overstate how good the Seattle Mariners pitching was against a really good lineup. And they’re so good at home. So good at home. Um, yeah, Bryce, as Teresa says here, Bryce Miller froze him up. Absolutely. That’s uh that’s just how good Bryce Miller was. He even got Anders Hurst out. Um, so we’re going to take a quick commercial break. Um, give some love to our sponsors because we cannot do this show without them. And we’ll be back to talk about some absolute clutch hitting on the Locked On Mariner Postcast. Let’s go. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does heavy lifting for you. You can link all of your accounts in minutes, see clear data visuals, get smart categorization of your spending, and finally feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. It’s the simplicity of it. The fact that you can put everything into one thing. It’s the big dumper of financial accounts because it can do absolutely everything. So, don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on MLB. Today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you cannot miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Hopefully somebody used it on Jackson Smith and Jigba and over receiving yards because holy crap was that guy good today. Hopefully you bet the under on Jacksonville Jaguars points because that was pretty nice too. Long story short, go Seahawks. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the fan download the FanDuel app today and get started. There’s my buddy. Hey, I’m back. Sorry guys. Why don’t we just Why don’t we just switch? I’ll I’ll host the second half. Go ahead. I just want to give everyone a quick heads up that uh I’m I’m at my parents house, so that’s why my Wi-Fi is crap. They’re not behind me. They’re not here, but I kind of went in the little den. They’re not that cowboy in the back there. I I could have No, believe it or not, they are not. I thought that was a family photo. I thought that was a family photo. Maybe it is. Maybe it is. So, let’s talk about the offense, Anders. That first inning was frustrating. And you know, you get first and third uh with one out. And I want to ask you about the one thing I have with Mr. Daniel Wilson today. Just the one thing. Ground ball to third base. The contact play is on. I don’t actually hate the contact play in that situation just because, you know, it’s probably your best chance of getting a run in that situation. As much as I love Josh Naylor, you know, I get it. Hopefully a bad throw or something along those lines and you’re trying to hustle to beat out the double play as well. Yep. You throw it to the plate. It was looked really close, Anders. And there were some im images that were sent to me that suggested he was safe. There were images that were sent to me that suggested he was out. One way or another, Anders, you got a challenge there, don’t you? Yeah. And it’s at the very least a 50/50 call. And it’s worth pointing out number one, uh, you get two challenges in the postseason. Um, so that another one people that are like, “Yeah, you got to save that. It’s really early in the game. You never know if if you’ll need it later. You have two. Uh, and I just I know it it doesn’t end up coming to bite you here, but because you have two, might as well use it there because it’s so close. If you get an early run there, it’s massive. It’s massive. Uh, the other thing that I don’t think a lot of people are recognizing, we also could have for, and this is less to do with the challenge, more to do with the contact play. They could have gotten a double play and the inning would have been over anyway, right? Like I was questioning their decision to throw home one out. Yeah. Like it was a pretty hard hit ground ball. Well taken. There wasn’t any bobbling whatsoever. And it was Jorge Palano running to first. So it’s not like he has a bunch of wheels. Uh so I don’t know. I think I it sucks. And a lot of people pointed out to me, you know, everyone blames Dan. It eventually is the manager’s decision whe but it’s not him that’s getting the information. He’s not actually watching the video. It’s the video team that’s doing it and then telling him whether to challenge or not. And then of course Dane Wilson’s the one that decides to do it. So I don’t know where the blame quote unquote lies uh for that non-decision or decision. Um, but I’m just going to say the coaching staff. Uh, and like I said, this is one of those situations where you don’t know if it’s on the manager, on somewhere else, analytics team, replay team, whatever. Uh, but I feel like a challenge would have been warranted there for sure. That my thing is is that if it was the only challenge of the game and if you get the data, you see the image of the suggestion that his foot is over the bag but not touching it, you know, okay. But if you get two, is there really going to be a situation? You hope not anyway. You hope not that. And you know what it is? If you do the challenge there, you just got to be really careful with the second one. Really careful. Give it a look. There’s no harm in giving it a look in that situation. That’s my only We’ve seen Dan Wilson do that before where it’s kind of a gut challenge where it’s just like, hey, you know, my guy tells it to me. Like, why not? Let’s give the challenge. So, I was very surprised more than anything else that he didn’t. It’s to me it’s the it’s the floor verse ceiling thing, right? The floor of that is okay, you still got one challenge left. The ceiling is you get a run, right? And yeah, you feel better at 1-1 than one nothing, which you were down for a long time. Yeah. But not for long. Not for too long anyway because Cal Raleigh. And I’m going to be honest with you, Anders, I was not feeling great about their swings against Gossman. It wasn’t actually the swings against Gossman. There were so many balls hit to the warning track today. So many balls that they just got under and I was just kind of feeling like it’s one of those days. It’s one of those days where Gossman has the good splitter today and they just haven’t when they when it’s been high and let it fly, they just haven’t got it done. But on a pitch that was not high on low down low, Cal Raleigh comes up as huge as possible and gives you that tie game. This guy’s just special. I mean, that’s it’s such a great swing, too. And they talked about it. John Smoltz did, which crazy that he actually can talk about something other than pitching. Uh, wow. Uh, but, uh, it was, uh, it was a great swing. He was so quick to the ball. That’s when Cal Raleigh is locked in, right? And he was that he was that way for most of the game today. He was taking some great abs. Uh, the top of the order was great, minus maybe Randy. Uh, but every every everyone else at the top of that order was was doing exactly what they needed to do today. But Cal Raleigh, man, in the moment where you absolutely needed him the most. I think it was one of those situations where once the first came, everyone else was like, “Okay, now we’re locked in. We’re getting our offense going.” It’s such a momentum thing with this team in particular. We’ve talked about it if it matters or not. Uh, with with just baseball in general. I think with this team there is an element of that for sure when Cal your guy that’s carried you all season long hits one out and you your pitcher has done amazing work just to keep it one zero at that point and then it’s a brand new ball game just like that it’s the guys woke up and it’s like okay let’s go. Uh and you saw that for the rest of the game and then uh from there on out it was all Mariners. All Mariners. All Mariners. Yeah they absolutely dominated this game from that point on. Um, so in that same inning, and here I’ll just give you my unsung hero right now, Anders. It’s Julio Rodriguez. Because drawing that walk to get Gossman out of the game, then getting to second base on the wild pitch and allowing Jorge Palano the opportunity to be I’m going to make the joke because I said I was going to do it. You can call it me at the Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet Mall because it’s polo season, baby. It is absolutely polo season. And for him to hit that liner, and I got to be honest, again, I’m never lying. I guess uh I say I got to be honest too often on this show and every show. Um as soon as that ball dropped in and as soon as Julio Rodriguez crossed home plate, I knew the Seattle Mariners were going to win this game. I knew the Seattle Mariners were going to win this game. And you know, Dom Chris made an appearance. Dom Chris made an appearance. I just felt so confident that they were going to get the job done because I saw Toronto Press. I saw Toronto press, and this is what’s really interesting to me, Anders. I think they’re going to be pressing even harder tomorrow because it’s a must-win game for the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow. Really good pitcher on the mound for them. Really, really, really talented, but you still got to score. You still got to score runs. Have they announced a starter for game two yet, Anders? The Seattle. Uh, I haven’t seen anything. Um, let me scroll through Twitter real quick. I I want to say it’s going to be Castillo. I I’m would be completely surprised if it’s not. See, I think it’s going to be Gilbert. I think it’s going to be Gilbert. Yeah. Just because two days rest on 30 pitches, what was basically his throw day and how good Castillo has been at home. I think they want to save him for that home start. Um, we know it won’t be Woo. We know it won’t be Kirby, but I’ll be really curious to see what they go with. They may not announce it till tomorrow. They may see who’s feeling the best, you know. Um, but that’s big. And then, you know, sorry to skip ahead, but the the liner to make it 3-1, the once again, a terrific piece of hitting from Jorge Palanco. This guy has just been and again my favorite part about Jorge Palano. And I don’t blame anyone for not wanting Jorge Palano before the season. I don’t. He was terrible. Yeah. But this is this is why baseball’s the best because baseball offers redemption arcs better than any other sport. And the redemption arc for Horge Palano cannot be overstated. He should win comeback player of the year. He won’t, but he should win comeback player of the year. Yeah. For me, uh, I’m going to go my unsung hero is, uh, what’s a clever way of saying this? I’ll just kind of say it, and then you can think of a clever way to say it. Uh Randy and uh Victor Robas’ defense is switching places because Randy makes an outstanding catch in left field and Victor Robas there’s some sort of adventure going on there in the bottom. Line of cards. Oh, line of cards. Oh, you know, thank God they win this game and that run doesn’t end up scoring because otherwise we’re talking about it. I think that’s a great point. Randy Rosena played a really good defensive game today. It’s kind of funny what Randy helped you a lot today with is base running and with defense and you know the base running’s been there for most of the year because you know you see the stolen bases and I right I can remember a few gaffs but for the most part he’s pretty good there. Yeah, there have been defensive adventures and then some but Randy was so good charging the baseball today. As good as I’ve seen him in a long long time. That was massive. I think that’s a great call that he was the unsung hero with his defense for sure. Um, that might be one of those statements that like in movies when someone states it, it like opens up a bomb or something like that. Randy Rose defense is what caused it. Yeah, that’s a good point. The end of the world. But, uh, oh, he was so good. Um, can I also quickly shout out JP Crawford’s defense at short? I know he doesn’t necessarily make any crazy plays, but his throws have been much stronger lately. Yes. Um, and uh, I that was something I was really worried about, especially going into the Detroit series coming out of the the the regular season. I think he looks healthier now. Um, obviously you’d like him to do a little bit more offensively because he hit the ground ball to the exact same spot four different times. Uh but he him being a average to good possibly shorts stop just making the plays that you need to doesn’t have the most range in the world absolutely it will play uh in this series because you need good defense and especially the way Polo’s been playing much better at second base as well. I’m feeling better and better incrementally about the middle infield right now defensively. So and I would totally agree. I’ll bring up this point uh real quick before we end. Number one, it has been announced Logan Gilbert will be starting game two. Absolutely the right call. Absolutely the right call. And then you can play with the Woo, Kirby Castillo. It doesn’t really matter what order you go, I think, with those guys at home, but I do think going with your your second best or best starter in that situation is the right call. Real quick on the Crawford thing, the big thing that I have noticed with Crawford lately is he’s not rushing his throws. He’s taking some time. He’s taking that crow hop. He rushed some throws in the Detroit series. He’s rushed some throws all year. And some of that has to do with not trusting your arm strength. I think he’s kind of realizing, you know what, I’ve got some time here. I have one of the best wet ass you know what stretchers in the baseball. I got like how do I say this right? I’m sorry. He looks like Megan the Stallion out there sometimes and he gets the job done. He He He is the real big dumper. He is the real big dumper. Um, but he’s taking that time and he played, you know, he goes hitless, I believe, in this game, but he draws a bunch of three ball counts. Great to see Gino get a double after some Yeah, I was going to make sure we got that in, too. Oh, I hope Gino can get going, man, because they need it so bad. So bad. This is a great win. Uh, game two tomorrow at 2 o’clock because why not? Uh, Logan Gilbert against Trey Savage. Going to see a lot of splitties. Going to see a lot of splitties from both these guys. We’d really appreciate it if you hit like, if you hit subscribe. Stay tuned for Ty and Kobe. They will definitely have an episode coming up. Talk about the joy. But your Seattle Mariners are now three wins away from going to the World Series. They have stolen home field advantage. The one of the best home teams outside of the Blue Jays has stolen home field advantage. 1150 of you at one point in here. This is just insane. We appreciate it so much. So very much. We’ll be back tomorrow. Let’s go make it 2 and I will set the outro video because that’s what we do. Locked on Mariners. Let’s go. Talk to you guys tomorrow. Go Mariners. This is the Mariners Post Cast, your instant game reaction for the Seattle Mariners, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day.

Anders and Chris break down the first game of the American League Championship Series between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. Did the Mariners get off to a good start in the series? How good was Bryce Miller? How clutch was Jorge Polanco? How fun is Cal Raleigh? How HUGE is this?

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Trade Coffee
Right now, Trade is exclusively offering our customer 50% off your one-month trial at drinktrade.com/LOCKEDONMLB.

OpenPhone
Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonmlb

Wonderful Pistachios
Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more!

Supply House
Join the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!

Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)