I mentioned after an ugly Game 3 loss for the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday that a best-of-seven series was always going to be difficult, especially against a Blue Jays offense that led the league in hits and runs during the regular season. They had the league’s highest batting average and did it with the second-fewest strikeouts.
A rough third inning hurts Mariners again in Game 4 loss
What I didn’t mention is that the Mariners’ offense was also good. They had more home runs than Toronto, drew more walks than Toronto, and had more stolen bases than Toronto. They grounded out less often. They had a better OPS in September, and the second highest in baseball behind the Phillies.
The Blue Jays have more hits than any other team this postseason, and dominating the Mariners in back-to-back games at T-Mobile widened that gap, but the next closest team is still… the Mariners.
The importance of highlighting that is two-fold. First, despite two incredibly lopsided losses for Seattle, this series is essentially starting over again as a best-of-three, and it’s anyone’s game. Is there a part of me that certainly feels less positive about the likelihood of Seattle winning? Absolutely. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Maybe I’m convincing myself here, but I digress.
Second and more importantly, it means that frustrated feeling you have about Seattle’s bats being so quiet is absolutely fair. This isn’t a bad team that fell backwards into a championship series, and watching a good team play poorly is a horrible way to spend a Thursday night.
Pitching is a big part of that story — which feels like an unnecessary statement when a team surrenders 29 hits and 20 runs over two games — but Seattle’s bats also haven’t performed as consistently at home. Rallies have fallen short (Josh Naylor getting thrown out at third clipped a potential one Thursday night) and runners have been left stranded. Geno Suárez and Randy Arozarena are hitting below .200 with double-digit strikeouts. They’re far from the only issue; while there have been a few key moments from the bottom of the lineup, it’s not been enough overall.
The Mariners are a good team that’s well-balanced. Some weaknesses? Of course, but every team has those. They can slug, steal bases and get strikeouts. Those are key postseason ingredients. The question isn’t whether they’re good enough to win this fight, but the only way they land the next punch is if the good version shows up.
Seattle Mariners ALCS coverage
• Recap: Scherzer, Blue Jays beat Mariners to tie ALCS 2-2
• Blue Jays drop slugger from roster for rest of ALCS
• Three hitters can make the difference for Mariners in rest of ALCS
• Mariners name Bryce Miller ALCS Game 5 starter
• Drayer: Why Mariners are readying Bryan Woo to come out of bullpen
