By Mitch Bannon, Tyler Kepner and Brittany Ghiroli
SEATTLE — After two unbeaten home losses, the Toronto Blue Jays’ powerful bats were on full display in a 13-4 drubbing of the Seattle Mariners in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday night.
George Springer, Andrés Giménez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger each homered, and Toronto scored five runs in the top of the third inning to erase an early two-run deficit and bring the best-of-seven series to 2-1. The Jays had 18 hits, manhandling Seattle starter George Kirby for eight runs in four innings. Guerrero, who had been hitless in the series, had four hits and finished within a triple of the cycle.
Jays starter Shane Bieber, who was scored with a two-run homer from Julio Rodríguez in the first, adjusted, putting up six solid innings with a steady mix of offspeed stuff. Bieber, an acquisition at the trade deadline, became Toronto’s first starter to go six innings in the playoffs.
Big swings still matter for Toronto’s contact offense
Toronto’s main offensive characteristic is contact. They can’t change that. The Jays led baseball in batting average and contact rate, but that doesn’t mean power doesn’t matter.
When the Jays have hit at least one home run this year, they have gone 73-30. When they didn’t hit a home run, they were 21-38. They trampled the Yankees in the ALDS, beating New York nine to four.
In the first two games of the ALCS, the Jays suffered little damage. It was Springer’s first home run in the first game, and that was it. Before the third match, manager John Schneider said he wanted fewer punches and more uppercuts. At the start of the competition, Toronto’s big moves arrived.
Giménez drifted down the first-base line as he launched a game-tying two-run blast in the third. Then Springer raised his hand, celebrating his second home run of the postseason an inning later. Through four innings, the Jays showed more power than the previous two games combined. In the fifth, Guerrero added another much-admired blast for good measure.
Toronto can continue to wear down pitchers with incessant contact and create scoring opportunities with singles, but big swings count. On Wednesday, the Jays got them.
The Blue Jays need this version of Vladdy to stick around for a while
Springer roared from the dugout, raising a lone fist as Guerrero sauntered around the bases. The Blue Jays first baseman hit a 406-foot home run to deep center, admiring his blast to give the Jays a 7-2 lead in Wednesday’s fifth inning. It was Guerrero’s third hit of the game and third of the series after going hitless in two games in Toronto.
VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR. WITH AN OPERATION OF YOUR OWN! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/cSLgLywe1V
– MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2025
After hitting over .500 with nine RBIs in four games against the New York Yankees in the Division Series, Guerrero’s bat went cold to start the ALCS. He didn’t hit in the first two games and ripped off several balls over 105 mph, but the hits didn’t fall. With lots of ground balls and frustrated returns to the dugout, Division Series Guerrero was gone. In Game 3, he appeared again – so much so that Guerrero was intentionally walked in the fifth inning before adding another double in the eighth.
Toronto’s offense is deep when it clicks. Seven Jays hitters recorded one RBI in the first six innings on Wednesday. But Guerrero remains the centerpiece. When it hits, everything else is easier. When Guerrero crushes, playoff wins become easier. If Toronto wants to continue to recover in this series, a productive Guerrero is essential.
With 8 earned points, Kirby writes a bad story
Kirby not only tied a career high with eight earned runs allowed in Game 3, but he also tied the all-time postseason record.
Kirby became the 17th pitcher to allow eight earned runs in a playoff game. Not that that’s much consolation for Kirby, but the list includes several other big names: Grover Cleveland Alexander (1928 World Series), Greg Maddux (NLCS 1989), David Wells (ALDS 2002), CC Sabathia (ALCS 2007), Josh Beckett (ALCS 2008) and Clayton Kershaw (NLDS 2014).
After the second inning, nine of Kirby’s final 15 batters reached base, a stretch that included homers by Giménez, Springer and Guerrero. Kirby is one of the best control pitchers in baseball, walking 1.3 per nine innings over his four-year career. But control (the ability to throw strikes) is different from command (the ability to hit a specific spot), and Kirby’s pitches strayed too far from the corners on Wednesday, allowing the Blue Jays’ lineup of contact hitters to put the ball in play with authority.
Bieber shows why the Jays traded for him
Bieber reached uncharted territory: the end of the sixth.
The Jays’ offense stole the show on Wednesday, but Bieber brought Toronto’s pitchers back in this series. He became the first Blue Jays starter to pitch at least six innings in the postseason since Marco Estrada in the 2016 ALCS.
The right-hander settled in after a first-inning home run and provided the Jays’ first quality start in the postseason, finishing with two runs allowed in six innings of work.
Bieber struck out eight Mariners, roaring after striking out Raleigh to end the fifth and bouncing back to the dugout at the end of his final inning. After just 2 2/3 innings in his Division Series outing, Bieber delivered on his trade deadline promise. If Toronto pushes this series to seven games, Bieber will get the ball. If he repeats this performance, Bieber could send the Jays to the World Series.
Strikeouts and Home Runs – the Mariners Way
The Mariners are 5-3 in October, so it’s hard to point out a lot of things that went wrong for them. But it’s worth noting that there are certainly plenty of twists and turns in their lineup.
That’s no surprise, as the Mariners struck out 8.92 times per game during the regular season, and only five teams (the Angels, Rockies, Yankees, Orioles and Tigers) fanned more times overall. But in eight games against Detroit and Toronto in the playoffs, Seattle hitters struck out 93 times, for an average of 11.6 per game.
The other thing about strikeouts, of course, is that big swings can lead to home runs. And the long ball, as always, was the Mariners’ specialty. They’re built that way, knowing that the thick air of T-Mobile Park can depress doubles and triples, but well-hit fly balls can still find the seats.
The Mariners are also aggressive on the bases; Randy Arozarena stole second place after his first step. But the most effective way to score is to hit home runs, and all four of Seattle’s runs on Wednesday came via home runs. Of the Mariners’ 36 runs in the postseason, 20 came on home runs.
