The Toronto Blue Jays kicked off their American League Championship Series (ALCS) with a loss at home on Sunday night. Toronto lost to the Seattle Mariners in the best-of-seven series opener, with the Mariners winning 3-1. Here’s how U.S. media are reacting to the result: ‘No rest, so what?’ The Seattle Times brimmed with pride after the Mariners clinched the Game 1 win, 30 hours after finishing the longest winner-take-all postseason game in Major League history. The sport’s cover title read, “No rest, so what?” with a picture of Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh tossing his bat after his single home run. The Mariners played 15 innings—just under five hours—against the Detroit Tigers to take the American League Division Series (ALDS) win home on Friday night. ‘Those three days off kind of affected them’ David “Big Papi” Ortiz, former Boston Red Sox player-turned-MLB commentator on Fox, says the time off between the Jays’ ALDS win and the start of the ALCS series impacted their home game on Sunday night. “I don’t know if this ever happened to you guys, when you guys were still playing, but when I was swinging the bat hot, I don’t want a day off,” Ortiz said, noting breaks can “cut off his rhythm.” “It seems like the Blue Jays tonight, those three days off kind of affected them, because if you look at it, this is the team that they don’t try to pull the ball at all.” Former New York Yankee Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez however, noted how the Mariners “delivered a perfect game.” “Pitched well, they played solid defence, because again, Toronto did put the ball in play, but then the little things,” Rodriguez said. ‘OH CAL-NADA!’ Gary Hill Jr., who hosts the official Seattle Mariners Podcast, subtly chirped Canada’s baseball team after Raleigh’s game-tying homer in the sixth inning. “Swung on, blasted, right field, this is going to go, it is gone. Cal Raleigh, Oh Cal-nada, a solo home run and this game is tied,” Hill Jr. said. “Cal has invaded Canada again and he has done it. It’s a brand-new ballgame.” ‘Any pitch goes, he can hit anything’ MLB network analyst Yonder Alonso gassed up Jorge Polanco, switch hitter for the Mariners, who had a pair of RBI singles on Sunday night. “When you look at this switch hitter, and they’ve got a couple of them in this lineup, he’s the shortest one to the baseball,” Alonso said. “What I mean by that is any pitch goes, he can hit anything, he can hit lefties, he can hit breaking balls, he can hit fast balls inside because he’s so short to the baseball.” ‘He gave up a homerun, everybody gives up a homerun at Cal Raleigh … who cares?’ Former Yankees player and Fox commentator Derek Jeter disagreed with the Blue Jays’ decision to pull Kevin Gausman after 76 pitches, once Raleigh scored his home run. “He had 76 pitches, he gave up a home run, everybody gives up a home rune at Cal Raleigh and he walked a guy, who cares? When you’re in the opposing dugout and you have a starter that is absolutely dealing, if they go to the bullpen, I don’t care who they bring in, you’re excited because it’s a new look,” Jeter said on Fox Sunday, adding the postseason “formula” does not always work. “I’m telling you from a hitter’s standpoint that you do not want to continue to face a guy that’s been dealing, you want to get him out of there as soon as you can.” Rodriguez chimed in, saying the opposing team’s reaction should be considered when pulling a pitcher who has been dealing, noting the Mariners must have been happy to see Gausman leave the pitch. “The reason the Blue Jays did not win was not cause of Gausman it was cause they didn’t hit anything,” Rodriguez said. ‘And in 100 pitches, shut down the Blue Jays in Game 1’ Right as the game capped off in the ninth, play-by-play announcer Joe Davis noted how the Mariners “shut down” the Toronto team on Sunday night. “Popped off, the Seattle Mariners retired 23 of the last 24, and in 100 pitches, shut down the Blue Jays in Game 1. 3-1 in Seattle,” Davis said. It is the Mariners’ first ALCS win since 2001.
