TORONTO — The Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays will decide who will move on to the World Series on Monday night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
The Blue Jays forced the decisive game with a 6-2 victory in Game 6 on Sunday night, helped by three Seattle errors. The Mariners also grounded into three double plays, twice with the bases loaded.
The winner will play the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting on Friday night.
The Mariners have never reached the World Series. The Blue Jays have not been in the World Series since they won in 1992 and 1993.
The Blue Jays got a two-run homer and three RBIs from Addison Barger and a solo shot from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in winning Game 6.
Guerrero has six career playoff homers — all this postseason — to tie Joe Carter and Jose Bautista for the most in team history.
“To watch him do what he’s doing right now and six homers in the postseason, he’s playing great defense, he’s running the bases well,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “This is kind of what you look for from one of the elite players in the game.”
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said the team has to “find a way to not let him beat you in some way.”
“He was able to swing it again tonight,” Wilson said after Game 6. “He got a home run to expand the lead a little bit. He’s a tough hitter. He’s someone that you have to take note of, and that’s for us to do going forward.”
Shane Bieber (1-0, 4.15 ERA in the playoffs) is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays with fellow right-hander George Kirby (0-1, 7.07) getting the nod for the Mariners.
It is a rematch of the Game 3 starters, a 13-4 win for the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Bieber allowed two runs and four hits while striking out eight in six innings to collect the victory.
Kirby allowed eight runs and eight hits in four innings in getting the loss.
“I think (Kirby is) the guy that we want in that situation, and he’s thrown the ball well and it’s his spot,” Wilson said. “George will be the starter and expect to have a lot of — like, all hands on deck down there in the bullpen and ready to go at any point.”
Kirby said the Blue Jays are aggressive at the plate.
“You’ve got to hit your spots and mix your pitches a lot, make sure you get ahead,” Kirby said on Sunday after Game 6.
Bieber is again following Trey Yesavage, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings and had seven strikeouts on Sunday.
“I think especially just throughout the playoffs, we’ve been doing a really good job of passing the baton, so to speak,” Bieber said on Sunday. “Ultimately, every game is an individual game and that’s the beautiful thing about baseball. You never know how it’s going to unfold, right? So I’m excited to get out there tomorrow and get it started.”
Yesavage was helped by inning-ending double plays in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
“Yeah, we did have some opportunities to score, and we did get some base runners on,” Wilson said. “But you give a little credit to Yesavage, and the secondaries that he had tonight were good. It kept us off stride and kept the ball on the ground for those double plays.
“So, we’ll make our adjustments offensively tomorrow, and we’ll be ready to go Game 7,” the manager continued. “This is the time to make those adjustments and baseball’s a game of adjustments, and they will be able to do that tomorrow night and ready to go.”
–Larry Millson, Field Level Media
