The Toronto Blue Jays have fallen behind 2-0 in their best-of-seven American League Championship Series with the Seattle Mariners following a 10-3 loss at the Rogers Centre on Monday night. The Mariners beat the Toronto team 3-1 Sunday night in the first game of the best-of-seven series and took Game 2 on the strength of three home runs. Key details: Here is a look back at Game 2: 9:57 p.m. - Fans lament Jays’ Game 2 loss It was a tough night to be a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays as Canada’s team recorded its second ALCS loss. Several dejected fans shared their thoughts with CP24 as they left the Rogers Centre on Sunday night: “The Jays should be up 2-nothing. They’re going back to Seattle 0-2 and they’re probably going to lose,” said one man. Another fan, however, hasn’t lost hope. “It’s pretty sad but look we’re gonna go back to Seattle, take the next three, and come back home and win it all. Go Jays Go!,” she smiled. “It’s not so great but we’ll get em’ in Seattle. Remember when we lost two straight at home to Texas and we went back, won two in Texas and then the bat flip came and we won,” added a third fan. “There’s lots of hope.” 8:30 p.m. – Mariners defeat Blue Jays 10-3 The Seattle Mariners have defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3 in Game 2 of their best-of-seven American League Championship series. The Mariners lead the series two games to none with Game 3 set for Seattle on Wednesday night. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven MLB playoff series have went on to win 78 out of 93 times. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 7:55 p.m. - Mariners lead 10-3 The Mariners added another run in the top of the seventh inning and now lead 10-3. Seattle scored the run on a J.P. Crawford sacrifice fly to centre field after Yariel Rodriguez walked all three batters he faced and was pulled from the game. The Jays put Chris Bassitt in, who is making his first appearance for the club since being placed on the injured list with back inflammation in mid-September. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 7:45 p.m. - A Happy Thanksgiving for Mississauga’s Josh Naylor MLB has released another view of Mississauga Josh Naylor’s fifth inning home run for the Mariners. On X, the official account for the Mariners wished their Canadian first baseman a “Happy Thanksgiving.” - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 7:25 p.m. - Mariners hit another HR to take 9-3 lead Mississauga’s Josh Naylor has hit the Mariners third home run of the night, a two-run shot to right field. All but one Mariners run tonight has come by way of the long ball. Seattle now leads the Blue Jays 9-3 in the top of the seventh inning. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 7 p.m. - Mariners add to lead J.P. Crawford singled to centre field in the top of the sixth inning, allowing Leo Rivas to score. The Mariners now lead the Blue Jays 7-3. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 6:37 p.m. - Mariners up 6-3 after Polanco HR Jorge Polanco hit a three-run home run off reliever Louis Varland in the top of the fifth inning to give the Mariners a 6-3 lead over the Blue Jays. It is the second three-run HR of the game for the Mariners after a Julio Rodríguez shot to left field gave Seattle an early lead in the first inning. The Jays and Mariners both have five hits but the long balls have been the difference so far. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 6:35 p.m. - Yesavage pulled from game in 5th inning Louis Varland is now into the game for the Toronto Blue Jays in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Mariners have runners at second and third base with no outs. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 6:20 p.m. - Mariners make a pitching change Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert is out of the game after just three innings of work. Gilbert had drawn the start on short rest after making a relief appearance in the Mariners marathon 15-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS on Friday night. Reliever Eduardo Bazardo is now into the game for the Mariners. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 6:10 p.m. - Gilbert pitch count creeps up The Blue Jays have managed to put some pressure on Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert early. Gilbert’s pitch count is already at 58 after just three innings. He has given up five hits and struck out two. Trey Yesavage, meanwhile, had a rough start to the game, walking his first two batters and then giving up a three-run home run to Julio Rodríguez but he has settled down since then. Yesavage has given up three hits during the first three innings. However, his command hasn’t been where it was in his dominant ALDS start against the Yankees. Through three innings, he has thrown 59 pitches and just 36 of them for strikes. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 6 p.m. - Varsho makes huge grab to keep game tied Daulton Varsho made a highlight-reel grab in the top of the third inning to prevent one or possibly two runs from scoring. The game remains tied at 3. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 5:50 p.m. - Blue Jays tie game The Blue Jays have tied up the game at 3 in the bottom of the second inning following an RBI single to right field by Nathan Lukes. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 5:30 p.m. - Blue Jays strike back The Blue Jays got the bottom of the first inning started with a double from George Springer. Nathan Lukes followed that up with a soft infield grounder that Josh Naylor bobbled while making the throw to first base, scoring Springer in the process. The Jays added another run on a Alejandro Kirk RBI single. The Mariners lead 3-2. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 5:10 p.m. - Mariners go up 3-0 on Rodríguez HR Julio Rodríguez has hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the Mariners an early 3-0 lead against the Toronto Blue Jays. The home run came after Trey Yesavage walked the first two batters he faced. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 4:57 p.m. - Donaldson throws out first pitch Former Jays great Josh Donaldson returned to the Rogers Centre on Monday afternoon to throw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Game 2. - Chris Fox, Managing Digital Producer CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca 4:40 p.m. - Game 2 might be close to a must-win for the Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are already in a dogfight in the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners after dropping the opening game 3–1 last night. They managed just two hits all night—none after the second inning—and didn’t make any hard contact after the fourth, putting up one of their worst offensive performances of the entire season. With Mariners starter Bryce Miller coming in on short rest and Seattle’s pitching staff in general overworked after their 15-inning Game 5 ALDS win, the Blue Jays truly missed an opportunity to go up early in this best-of-seven series. Game 2 at home becomes as close to a must-win as this team has had all season, with rookie Trey Yesavage taking the mound tonight looking to continue what has become a near-legendary start to his Blue Jays career. Framing this game as Toronto having their backs against the wall might be a slight overstatement but with Games 3, 4, and 5 being played at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, a loss this afternoon would definitely put them in a tough spot. The Blue Jays’ strength all season has been grinding out at-bats, seeing pitches, being patient at the plate, and putting the ball in play—something they did almost none of last night. To find success in Game 2, they’ll need to get back to what brought them here and play Blue Jays-style baseball. Seattle has one of the best pitchers in baseball, Logan Gilbert, taking the mound for them, so things don’t get any easier. The bats need to wake up and contribute, and the pitching staff needs to continue holding the fort down. This Thanksgiving, we’re all grateful for playoff baseball as we cheer on our Jays—but a win today would make Blue Jays fans just a little more thankful. -Scott Belford, host of‘The Walk Off’ Toronto Blue Jays podcast and guest contributor 3:52 p.m. - Bieber says he’ll ‘step on it from pitch one’ in ALCS Game 3 Pitcher Shane Bieber, who is set to start for the Jays in Game 3 of the ALCS on Wednesday, says he’ll “step on it from pitch one,” just like he expects Yesavage will do in tonight’s game and Kevin Gausman did on Sunday night. “I think we all know as starting pitchers, we got to go out there and empty the tank. And so you don’t want to step off that mound with, you know, excess energy or anything left in the tank,” he said during a pre-game media availability on Monday afternoon. Bieber said the Jays’ Game 1 loss means he and his fellow pitchers must continue to be “aggressive” and remain focused on the future. “I thought, you know, a couple different pitches and being a little bit sharper in certain situations could have had (Game 1) go a different direction, but ultimately, you can’t really dwell on that, and you got to focus on what’s coming next,” he said. “And kind of just dove into my work over the past few days and excited for the opportunity on Wednesday.” Reflecting on the Mariners, Bieber said they’re an “extremely balanced team.” “They can string hits together and they can also get you at any point with power. Obviously, they’ve got Cal (Raleigh) over there and he showed how he can even up a game in one swing,” he said. “But it’s really not just Cal. They have a bunch of guys that can really inflict damage at any point, so you always got to be on your toes. And I think as a starting pitcher and just a pitching staff, we got to continue to be the aggressors and not give them too much credit, but go out there and pitch our game.” 2:46 p.m. - Santander out of Game 2 ALCS lineup, Lukes in after injury Jays right fielder Anthony Santander has been removed from today’s Game 2 ALCS starting lineup due to lower back tightness, the team announced in a post on social media. Davis Schneider will replace Santander in left field. Second baseman Ernie Clement moved up to seventh in the order, while Schneider was set to bat eighth. Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes is back in the lineup for Game 2 after being removed after bruising his injured left knee in the firth inning on Sunday. -Joanna Lavoie, CP24.com Journalist, with files from The Canadian Press 2:15 p.m. - Schneider says there’s ‘ways to combat’ Mariners’ pitches After Seattle got through about 100 pitches on Sunday night, Schneider was asked if the Jays would do anything differently in Game 2. “I think that, again, you don’t want to try to do something you haven’t done all year when you get to this point,” Schneider said. “These guys can pitch, and they’re going to come right after you early, so there’s ways to combat that.” The Jays coach says Game 1 simply didn’t work out in the team’s favour. “Whether you want to call it bad luck, bad aim, bad exit ... whatever you want to call it, I think it just kind of didn’t work to our favour to where--yeah there were some quick outs, that’s kind of how some of our guys are built and didn’t really grasp the positioning part of it,” Schneider said. -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 2:01 p.m. - Schneider says Lukes probably wouldn’t be playing if this were the regular series The Jays revealed earlier on Monday that Nathan Lukes would be back out on the field for Game 2 after leaving early with a right-knee contusion. When asked if Lukes would be playing if this were the regular season, Schneider said: “Probably not, just being totally transparent. We’ve had those conversations to where you say, I’ve probably said ‘I want to be careful and things like that, if this were the playoffs, we’ll see.’ This is the playoffs, so I think you do whatever it takes to be out there.” -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 1:45 p.m. - ‘This is not a one game series,’ Schneider says Despite the loss in Game 1, Blue Jays fans still have faith in the Canadian team to win the series—and that sense of pride is why team manager John Schneider says they love their fans. “It’s great... it’s why we love playing here, it’s why we love our fans. I think it’s easy for them to say that beause that’s the mentality in the clubhouse right now,” Schneider said. “This is not a one game series, this is a seven game series and, you know, it’s going to be tough and I think that our fans are well-educated enough to know that for one, but also, well-educated enough to know what kind of team that is.” Schneider also commented on the hate that Trey Yesavage and his loved ones have been subjected to, and applauded the rookie’s response to the vitriol. “For one, welcome to the club, Trey. I think the fact that he was proactive with saying what he said leads me to believe that he’ll go out and compete just fine today,” Schneider said. “I don’t think that a player needs to have any extra advice when you’re kind of using the platform that you do have to just say how you feel. I think if he was uncomfortable saying that, he wouldn’t have said it yesterday and I don’t think it’s gonna affect him at all today.” -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 1:18 p.m. - ‘I feel ready right now,’ Santander says Jays player Anthony Santander said he’s feels ready to help the team win some more games in the postseason. “It’s more determination, that is not trying to be a hero. I mean, it’s the playoffs right?” Santander said through his translator, when asked about how he wants to prove himself to his teammates and fans after he was out for months due to a shoulder injury. “My case, I’m just not trying to prove anything. I feel ready right now and every time I get the chance to go out there and put good swings, be aggressive, find a way to put good at bats and help the team win some games.” Santander said his teammates supported him both physically and mentally during the regular season when he couldn’t play, and how thankful he is for the opportunity to now play with them in the playoffs. “I mean, very grateful to have the opportunity to be here in the playoffs, like you mentioned, it was four months out, it wasn’t easy,” Santander said. “But, like I said before, I had the support from an entire organization, my family, it was a huge support, everybody was around me.” -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 12:51 p.m. - Lukes in Game 2 lineup Blue Jays’ outfielder Nathan Lukes is in the Game 2 lineup after he was removed mid-Game 1, when he fouled off a ball to his right knee. -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 12:25 p.m. - Canadians are searching more about the Jays than Thanksgiving, Google Trends expert says The Jays are top of mind for Canadians today despite the fact that it’s Thanksgiving Monday, Google Trends spokesperson Alexandra Hunnings Klein told CTV News Toronto. Over the last day, Klein says the top trending searches in Ontario were Diane Keaton, Jays versus Mariners, turkey meat, Thanksgiving and pie. While there was a brief moment where Canadians were searching what is open on the holiday Monday, Klein said the searches continue to outpace Thanksgiving in favour for Canada’s baseball team. “There’s a Leafs game today, it’s not high at all, like people are not searching for that at all. It’s like everyone’s all in on the Jays,” Klein said. Outside of Toronto, Klein says there has been a lot of searches for the Jays in Port Perry, Uxbridge, Bluewater, McDougall, and Prince Edward County over the last 24 hours. “We see also searches in British Columbia that are very high right now because B.C. borders, obviously, Washington, where the Seattle Mariners are, and so there’s this interest … (that) they would drive down to the game, for example,” Klein said. Klein noted Trey Yesavage’s connection to the Vancouver Canadians, the minor league team he played with last before being called up to the Jays, as another reason why the rookie is a popular search term currently. “His narrative is so impressive because he was pitching for (the Vancouver Canadians) in June and here he is in October, at the height of the playoffs, and so there’s this big Vancouver-Toronto connection in that sense,” Klein said. The Toronto team is garnering worldwide interest too, as Klein pointed out that the search trends for the Blue Jays are high in Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, the U.S., Mexico and Japan. -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 12 p.m. - Rogers Centre will have an open roof The roof will be open for Game 2 at the Rogers Centre on Monday evening. -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist 11:50 a.m. - Jays players expected to speak Players Anthony Santander and Shane Bieber are expected to speak ahead of Game 2. After, Jays manager John Schneider will address the media at 1:30 p.m. -Alex Arsenych, CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist
