The Seattle Mariners came up short in their quest for a first-ever World Series berth in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, as a cascade of errors, missed opportunities, and inning-ending double plays resulted in a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at a packed Rogers Centre. The series now stands deadlocked at 3-3, making Monday’s Game 7 in Toronto the ultimate decider.
Seattle’s performance on Sunday was uncharacteristically sloppy for a team on the brink of history. They became the first MLB team since the 2009 New York Yankees (Game 2 of the ALCS) to commit three or more errors and hit into three or more double plays in a playoff game, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Logan Gilbert, starting for the Mariners, was ineffective over four innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits while walking one and striking out three.
On the defensive side, Seattle only made matters worse. In the second inning, Daulton Varsho led off with a single and advanced on a misplay by Julio Rodriguez. Eugenio Suarez then committed an error on a grounder from Ernie Clement, followed by another miscue on Kiner-Falefa’s swinging bunt, allowing two unearned runs to score. This messy start set the tone for a game in which the Mariners twice hit into inning-ending double plays with the bases loaded, squandering potential rallies.
Toronto’s rookie starter, Trey Yesavage, making just his sixth MLB start after being drafted in 2024, held Seattle scoreless for 5⅔ innings. He induced three double plays in consecutive innings, including a bases-loaded groundout from Cal Raleigh in the third and similar twin killings in the fourth and fifth. Yesavage’s mix of a deceptive delivery and sharp split-finger fastball neutralized the Mariners’ most dangerous threats.
Offensively, Seattle’s runs came too little too late. Josh Naylor hit a solo homer in the sixth, followed by a run driven in by Suarez, off reliever Louis Varland. Toronto countered with homers from Addison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with Guerrero recording his sixth postseason home run to match the franchise record and pushing his playoff slash line to .457/.524/.917. A Matt Brash wild pitch in the seventh added an insurance run, bringing about the 6-2 result.
Thus, Seattle now faces the harsh reality of a winner-take-all Game 7, with George Kirby to start against Toronto’s Shane Bieber. Historically, the Mariners have never played a Game 7. In fact, the closest they came was a six-game ALCS loss to the Cleveland Guardians in 1995 and to the Yankees in 2000.
The stakes could not be higher: win, and Seattle reaches the World Series; lose, and a historic opportunity slips away in heartbreak.
