Toronto Blue Jays need to be road warriors to advance to the World Series
Photo credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
The Toronto Blue Jays have a tremendous task at hand going into Game 3 at T-Mobile Park tonight with the Seattle Mariners up 2-0 in the American League Championship Series.
The task is simply factual. To advance to the World Series, the Jays must win at least two games on the road at T-Mobile Park.
They split road games against New York in the DS but now have to win the three-game series in Seattle.
Why today's Blue Jays-Mariners game matters so much:
-Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series have gone on to win the series 40 of 41 times (97.6%).
-Teams that trail 2-1 after three games in a 7-game series have gone on to win the series 45 of 153 times (29.4%).
-Teams that trail 2-1 after three games in a 7-game series have gone on to win the series 45 of 153 times (29.4%).
The Jays swept a three-game set in Seattle in May. Max Scherzer called it the point of the year he knew Toronto was a legitimate contender.
The Blue Jays entered T-Mobile coming off two crushing losses in Anaheim, and then outscored the Mariners by 14 runs in three contests.
The Mariners are a much different team now, but there's a proven path to Seattle success for these Jays.
Blue Jays have to get back to basics with their contact-dominate offence
Toronto's contact-dominant offence hasn't appeared in the LCS. In either game, it has one hit after the second inning. In this series, its average as a team is .132.
The Blue Jays lineup didn't play its best in two home games, but it didn't get any luck, either.
Toronto posted higher hard-hit rates than the Mariners in both LCS losses at home.
Large, inverse discrepancy in Blue Jays and Mariners contact quantity / quality through first two games of ALCS tells a story:
The two teams posted nearly identical expected batting averages, too. Yet the Mariners outscored Toronto 13-4.
As John Schneider often says, the Blue Jays go as far as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will take them.
In four division series games against the Yankees, Guerrero hit .529 with three homers and nine RBIs.
So far in the league championship series, he's hitless in seven at-bats.
With some Canadian fans sure to cross the border for this week's contests, the environment also won't be as hostile as many other postseason road venues.
There might not be as many Jays fans descending on Seattle this week, too.
This matchup wasn't set until days ago, leaving little time for West Coast Canadians to plan a trip, and all three contests are weekday games starting at 5:33 p.m. local, or earlier.
Shane Bieber is on the bump tonight, hopefully it's his best outing as a Blue Jay yet.
TRENDING NOW
