The Mariners are heading to the ALDS to take on the Astros. They took a wild ride to get there.
After dominating the Blue Jays in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series, it looked as if the M’s were going to be run out of Rogers Centre in Game 2. Toronto jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind a pair of Teoscar Hernandez home runs off Seattle starter Robbie Ray, who lasted just three-plus innings. Toronto’s lead ballooned to 8-1 by the fifth. Things looked ugly.
From there, however, everything unraveled for the Blue Jays. The Mariners scored nine of the game’s next 10 runs to earn a 10-9 victory and send the stunned Blue Jays and their fans to the offseason.
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It was the third comeback of seven or more runs in MLB postseason history, and the first since 2008 when the Red Sox came back from a 7-0 deficit against the Rays in the ALCS. The Mariners had 1 percent odds of winning this game in the bottom of the fifth inning before the turnaround.
The Sporting News looks at the biggest comebacks in MLB postseason history.
1929: Athletics over Cubs, World Series Game 4
Deficit: Eight runs
Worst win expectancy: 0.5 percent
The greatest “never tell me the odds” win in MLB postseason history: the A’s trailed 8-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Philadelphia had a 0.5 percent chance to win the game, before ripping off 10 runs in the seventh as it sent 15 batters to the plate. Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx and Jimmy Dykes each had two hits in the frame. Mule Haas cut the lead to 8-7 with a three-run inside-the-park homer that Chicago center fielder Hack Wilson lost in the late-afternoon sun at Shibe Park.
The Athletics went on to win the game 10-8 en route to a World Series victory in five games. It remains the biggest postseason comeback in postseason history.
2008: Red Sox over Rays, ALCS Game 5
Deficit: Seven runs
Worst win expectancy: 1 percent
Already down 3-1 in the series, it looked as if the season was over for the Red Sox. Rays starter Scott Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings, meaning Tampa Bay was nine outs away from winning the AL pennant.
The Red Sox, however, showed their fight. Boston made it a game in the bottom of the seventh after the Rays had scored two in the top half. Dustin Pedroia singled in a run before David Ortiz hit a three-run homer.
The success continued in the eighth. The Red Sox tying the game with a J.D. Drew home run and a CoCo Crisp RBI single. Boston went on to win in walk-off fashion, with Drew singling in the game-winner to force a Game 6. The ed Sox won that game, too, before losing in Game 7.
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2022: Mariners over Blue Jays, WCS Game 2
Deficit: Seven runs
Worst win expectancy: 1 percent
The Mariners’ comeback over the Blue Jays was a classic example of one team’s luck being another team’s misfortune.
Seattle headed into the top of the sixth inning down 8-1, and Toronto starter Kevin Gausman was throwing well. But then the Mariners loaded the bases and Gausman came out in favor of Tim Mayza, who immediately threw a run-scoring wild pitch and gave up a three-run home to Carlos Santana.
The Jays tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 9-5, but from there the wheels fell off completely for Toronto.
In the top of the eighth, Cal Raleigh singled in Eugenio Suarez, who had led off with a double, to make it 9-6. The Mariners loaded the bases again on singles by Mitch Haniger and Adam Frazier. J.P. Crawford cleared those bases and tied the game 9-9 with a pop-fly double that fell in when center fielder George Springer and shortstop Bo Bichette collided in the outfield. Springer was forced to leave the game with an injury.
Frazier drove in Raleigh with a double in in the top of the ninth to give the Mariners the lead, and George Kirby closed it out in the bottom half to complete the comeback. The Mariners secured the series win in their first postseason appearance since 2001.
It’s a brutal loss for Toronto and a riveting win for the Mariners, who now turn their attention to the Astros in the a best-of-five ALDS. The firsts will continue in Game 3 when the Mariners host their first playoff game in 21 years.
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