Blue Jays sweep Mariners, pressure builds in American League Championship Series

(AFP) The Toronto Blue Jays woke up after losing the first two games of the Championship Series and cruised to a 13x4 victory Wednesday over the Seattle Mariners with a three-run home run by Mexico's Alejandro Kirk included.

For the third straight day in the American League Championship Series, it was the visiting team that came away with the victory.

"We had really good innings, that's all," said George Springer, who finished the game with three hits for the Blue Jays.

"We're going to take it one step at a time, they're a great team and there's no other way to come out on top in this series," he added.

Kirk, 26, a Gold Glove nominee at catcher, has three home runs and seven RBIs in the 2025 postseason, becoming the Mexican-born player with the most postseason home runs.

"We did a great job, we fought every at-bat," Kirk commented. "I was looking for something in the strike zone and thank God I was able to get it out, all year we worked for this."

Toronto found itself down on the scoreboard in the first inning after a two-run homer by Dominican Julio Rodriguez. The Blue Jays' response was convincing as they scored five runs in the fifth inning.

A power struggle then resulted in a slugfest that saw eight home runs between the two teams.

The Canadian bats woke up at the right time and in addition to the 13 runs, scored 18 hits, numbers that far surpass the four runs and eight hits of the first two games.

"It's a great moment to connect my first home run in postseason," Venezuelan Andrés Giménez said. "We were aggressive and we all wanted to contribute, tonight we were ready from the first pitch."

"Tomorrow is another game but it's very different to be 2-1 than 3-0, we'll keep fighting," Gimenez promised.

From the mound, the Blue Jays were backed by Shane Bieber, who pitched six complete innings in which he allowed two runs and retired eight via strikeout.

Toronto takes a step closer to the dream of returning to the World Series, something that has not happened since the 1993 season.

Despite Toronto's dominance, the positive note for the home side was the first home run of the postseason by Mexican Randy Arozarena.

Arozarena, 30, broke a streak of 107 consecutive innings without a home run tonight.

Prior to the start of the game, legendary Hall of Famer Randy Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The series will continue on Thursday at T-Mobile Park (Seattle), where the Blue Jays will have the opportunity to even the series, or the Mariners to move within one game of the World Series.