With sweep Seattle enters the Division Series

The Seattle Mariners eliminated the Toronto Blue Jays 10-9 in Game 2 to sweep the American League Wild Card Series. Seattle trailed by a score of 8-1 at one point, but thanks largely to a two-part rally in the sixth and eighth innings, the Mariners were able to shock the Blue Jays and the Rogers Center crowd and finish their 2022 season.

The Mariners advanced to face the American League West rival Houston Astros, the top seed in the AL infield, in the best-of-five Division Series. So far so good for Seattle’s first postseason appearance since 2001

“I was praying to the baseball gods to let the ball rest,” shortstop JP Crawford said.

Adam Frazier hit the tiebreaking RBI double in the ninth inning to give the Mariners their fourth postseason series victory in franchise history; they also won the ALDS in 1995, 2000 and 2001.

“Those are the kinds of moments you picture yourself in the backyard as a kid,” Frazier said.

Seattle players came out of the dugout and celebrated behind the mound after the win. They also beat Toronto 4-0 in Game 1 of the best-of-three series last Friday. The next step for Seattle is Houston in the ALDS.

“To go to the World Series, you have to go through Houston. They are really good. We understand that. We’re doing great,” manager Scott Servais said.

These playoffs were the first held at Rogers Center since 2016, when the Blue Jays lost in five games to Cleveland in the American League Championship Series. Cleveland lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs.

Toronto appeared in the 2020 wild card series and was also eliminated in two games. The top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays hosted that series, which occurred during a stretch of Covid-affected seasons in which the Blue Jays played home games at their spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., and at the home park of its Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. New York.

The Jays have now lost five straight postseason games and eight of nine. Toronto, which finished one win away from a playoff spot in 2021, heads into another offseason on a disappointing note.

“It’s going to take some time. I’ll probably take a vacation or two,” Toronto coach John P. Schneider said.

deportes@eleconomista.mx