The Toronto Blue Jays homered twice and exploited three Seattle errors to beat the Mariners 6-2 on Sunday and force a decisive game seven in their Major League Baseball playoff series.
Addison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the Blue Jays and rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage, making only his sixth MLB start, gave up just one run in five and two-thirds innings.
Yesavage struck out seven and induced three straight inning-ending double plays, two of them with the bases loaded.
“He comes every day and gives it all he has,” Guerrero said of 22-year-old Yesavage, who rose through the minor leagues this year and burst into the majors in September.
“It’s amazing playing defense behind him. He brings the energy, he’s young. He wants to win so bad.”
Yesavage, who was tagged for five runs by the Mariners in game two, said he just wanted to compete with the Blue Jays’ season on the line.
“This was the most electric, energized crowd I’ve ever played in front of,” Yesavage said. “I was getting my stuff in the box early, getting ahead of batters and letting my defense work. “Getting three double plays in back-to-back-to-back innings, to get out of two bases-loaded jams, that is huge, and I knew my defense had my back.”
The Blue Jays knotted the American League Championship series at three games apiece and will host game seven on Monday.
The winner of the series will face the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting on Friday. “Getting to this point and forcing a game seven with everybody’s effort, everybody’s opportunity to shine, is a real testament to how close and how tight knit this team is,” Yesavage said.