Mariners' pitching master class remains in session in ALCS Game 1 win vs. Blue Jays

It only took one pitch for the Seattle Mariners to start looking like they were in trouble in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. And the narrative wrote itself, as George Springer's leadoff home run seemed destined to be the first of many broadsides against a tired pitching staff.

Instead, the Mariners allowed just one more hit and no more runs as they recorded the next 27 outs, ultimately resulting in a 3-1 win. They only threw 100 pitches in the game, and are now just three wins away from going to their first World Series.

"Wow" is the only summary anyone needs, but it's worth reiterating how unlikely this result is anyway.

The Mariners were taking on a Blue Jays squad that had an AL-best 54-27 record at home. The Blue Jays had also just hung 34 runs on the New York Yankees in four games in the ALDS, and that same offense was up against a Mariners pitching staff that had been severely depleted by a 15-inning marathon in Game 5 of the ALDS — so much so that they had to turn to Bryce Miller, he of the 5.68 ERA, to start Game 1.

The Mariners flipped the script and overwhelmed Toronto's bats in Game 1 of the ALCS

Springer's first-pitch blast off a 97 mph fastball from Miller didn't feel so much like a warning shot as a knockdown blow on the first punch. It told the Mariners who they were messing with, with a not-so-implicit message that they were out of their league.

So, how did the Mariners not only get off the canvas, but pummel the Blue Jays into submission?

It starts with Miller, who proceeded to throw everything he had at the Blue Jays. His stuff was excellent, with his fastball in particular sitting 1.4 mph faster on average than it had during the regular season.

Not bad for a guy going on only three days' rest, and even the pitch that Springer hit out was a well-spotted fastball that proved to be a tone-setter. Miller largely avoided the middle of the strike zone, striking out only three but inducing plenty of harmless contact as he worked through six innings of one-run ball.

Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz took it from there, combining to allow only one walk in three hitless, scoreless innings.

You don't need a lot of offense on days when the pitching is this good, and the Mariners barely got enough. Evidently still nursing his grudge against the Blue Jays, Cal Raleigh effectively reset the game with his solo homer off Kevin Gausman. Jorge Polanco drove in the other two runs on RBI singles in the sixth and eighth.

The Mariners have now scored exactly three runs in three straight games. It's not what anyone wants from this offense, much less what anyone expected. The Mariners had a dangerous offense throughout the regular season, and especially at the end when they led MLB in scoring in September.

But as cold as the offense has been, the pitching staff has been putting on a dang master class. The pitching is the reason the Mariners outlasted the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, as it allowed just two runs in 15 innings in Game 5. Add the results of Game 1 of the ALCS onto that, and the Mariners have allowed just three runs — which came on just two swings, no less — over their last 24 innings, with 10 hits and eight walks allowed.

You could call it unsustainable, but we prefer to call it a peak that this staff was always capable of reaching.

It was just last year that the Mariners co-led the league with a 3.49 ERA, and all of the main players are healthy and effective right now. This clearly includes Miller, who actually led the Mariners with 3.4 rWAR in 2024. And at least health-wise, it also includes Bryan Woo after he was added back to the roster following his absence during the ALDS.

With an offense as talented as the one the Blue Jays are packing, taking anything for granted is an obvious mistake. But given that Seattle pitchers' ability to hang with Toronto hitters was always going to be a defining question of this series, the Mariners must love how they're answering it so far.