Bieber aims to get Toronto’s Comeback Kids a road win tonight in ALCS

SEATTLE — For more than a century statistics have been a staple of the game of baseball.

Many of those key numbers currently don’t favour the Toronto Blue Jays as they aim to dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole in the American League Championship Series, starting tonight at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners, with 3-1 and 10-3 wins in Toronto, are firmly in the driver’s seat with Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary, in Seattle. The only Major League Baseball team to never play in the World Series feels confident it can end that drought.

Teams that take a two-game lead in a best-of-seven post-season series have advanced 78 of 93 times. And of the 27 teams that lost the first two games at home in the playoffs with a 2-3-2 format, only three have rallied to win.

The Jays have been outscored 13-4, outhit 17-8 and have not scored past the second inning in the first two games. The Mariners have more homers (4-1) and Blue Jay sluggers Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Addison Barger, Daulton Varsho and Andres Gimenez haven’t registered a hit in the ALCS.

But the Blue Jays, who were the Comeback Kids this season with 49 come-from-behind victories in earning the A-L’s top seed, insist the ALCS is far from over.

Right-hander Shane Bieber, who the Jays acquired in a July trade with the Cleveland Guardians to enhance their playoff fortunes, will be on the mound for Toronto tonight. The Mariners will counter with right-hander George Kirby. First pitch is scheduled for 8:08 ET.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.