Seattle Mariners' resiliency to be tested again in Game 4

SEATTLE – It’s safe to say Game 3 of the American League Championship Series did not go the way the Seattle Mariners had hoped.

Seattle Mariners: Two important reminders come out of Game 3 loss

The Mariners struck first for the seventh time in eight postseason games on Julio Rodríguez’s two-run home run in the first inning, but there wasn’t much else for fans at T-Mobile Park (at least the ones there for the M’s) to cheer for from there on out as the Toronto Blue Jays piled up 12 straight runs on their way to a 13-4 victory, cutting Seattle’s ALCS lead to 2-1.

After a blowout loss on their home field, the Mariners’ resolve is set to be tested once more this season with a quick turnaround for Thursday’s pivotal Game 4.

“This is a team that’s done that a lot this year in terms of bouncing back, being resilient,” manager Dan Wilson said postgame. “We’ve used a lot of words for it, but tomorrow’s going to be that opportunity again for us, and these guys know how to prepare and be ready for that, and I don’t expect it’s going to be an issue for them at all.”

As Wilson pointed out, the Mariners looking flip the script following a deflating moment or series of events is nothing new. They’ve done this before, quite a few times.

They went 3-7 in their first 10 games of the regular season, capped by a sweep in San Francisco that saw right fielder Victor Robles suffer a serious shoulder injury that forced him to miss most of the season.

It was the exact sort of start that a team that just missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons could seem to ill afford, yet the M’s answered back with one of their best stretches of the year. They rattled off nine straight series wins during a 19-7 run, and it all started with a massive comeback win after being down 5-0 in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros in the rubber match of the first of those nine consecutive series victories.

Mariners-Blue Jays has been the bizarro ALCS through three games

Then came the series in New York against the Yankees just before the All-Star break. The set looked a true test to see just how good this Seattle squad was against one of the top contenders in the American League. The Yankees turned the opening game of that series into a 10-3 laugher, beat Seattle by three runs the next night and came back from 5-0 in the eighth inning of the series finale to hand the M’s a crushing extra-innings loss.

Next for the Mariners after that was a matchup against the MLB-leading Detroit Tigers, with reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal taking the mound for the opener. Seattle promptly swept the series in the Motor City in dominant fashion, outscoring Detroit 35-14 and putting to rest the doubt that followed its performance in New York.

“Throughout the whole year there has always been tough moments for us,” Rodríguez said, “and like I said, (we) just kind of flush it back and just know that we gotta line up tomorrow again.”

There were also Seattle’s road struggles in August. After putting together a 9-1 stretch coming off a successful trade deadline, the M’s went 2-7 during an East Coast trip, including a sweep at the hands of the Phillies with Seattle simply looking overmatched while being outscored 29-13 over three games.

Another nearly disastrous road trip followed. The M’s lost a series in Cleveland, were swept by a Tampa Bay team that had just about fallen out of playoff contention and lost the first game of their next series in Atlanta. But they closed the trip with two wins against the Braves, kicking off a remarkable run of 17 wins in 18 games to clinch their first AL West title in 24 years, a run that featured a monumental three-game sweep of the Astros in Houston.

“This is a team that has proven over and over again that fighting back, bouncing back, having resiliency is a part of their DNA,” Wilson said, “and tomorrow’s a chance to do that again.”

The Mariners faced adversity once more just last week during the AL Division Series. After leading 3-0 and looking like they were on their way to a series-clinching Game 4 win in Detroit, the Tigers tallied nine unanswered runs to force a decisive Game 5 in Seattle, which the M’s won in an epic 15-inning marathon.

Time and time again, the M’s have proven they are a resilient group this year. Now they must do it again.

“One loss doesn’t discourage us,” Game 3 starter George Kirby said. “No one said it was going to be easy. Losses are part of the game, and we’re going to come back tomorrow ready to hit, ready to pitch and ready for Game 4.”

Seattle Mariners’ resiliency to be tested again in Game 4

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