SEATTLE — George Kirby retired six of the first seven batters he faced Wednesday, watched Julio Rodríguez spot the Mariners a near-instant two-run lead and had a packed crowd at T-Mobile Park rocking with his every delivery in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series.
Then it all went horribly, historically wrong.
In the blink of an eye, a Blue Jays lineup that had been contained for the first two games of the ALCS erupted back into the juggernaut form they’d shown in their Division Series romp against the Yankees, and Kirby was the one in the way, allowing eight runs on eight hits — including three homers — in what turned out to be a 13-4 blowout that trimmed Seattle’s series lead to 2-1.
“This is a team that’s going to hurt you if you make mistakes on the plate,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It looked like there were a couple that they were able to get to, and really that’s where it was at that point.”
Kirby’s eight earned runs were the most allowed by a Seattle starter in the postseason in franchise history and matched the most allowed by a pitcher in a postseason game since earned runs began being tracked in 1913. It was the first time a Seattle pitcher had allowed eight earned runs in a game since April 3, 2024 — that one was also Kirby — and just the fourth time it’s happened to a Mariner since 2020.
It started with the bottom of the Toronto lineup. Ernie Clement doubled to lead off the third, turning on a first-pitch sinker. Two pitches later, Andrés Giménez — Toronto’s No. 9 hitter, who had hit just two home runs since the All-Star break — got to a fastball over the middle of the plate and launched it into the seats in right field.
“I was just trying to be really cute with it,” Kirby said. “Some sliders leaked over the middle. I missed a heater to Giménez there — tried to go up and I threw it down.”
Kirby nearly got out of it without any more damage, getting two outs – the second with a pair of runners in scoring position. But he walked Alejandro Kirk to load the bases and let the go-ahead run come home on a wild pitch, before Daulton Varsho got the rout underway with a two-run double to cap a five-spot.
“I just wasn’t really executing when they got the guys on base,” Kirby said. “They were really aggressive when that happened. They made some good swings and I wasn’t really making a lot of good pitches there.”
And while Toronto’s Shane Bieber found his groove after a rough start, Kirby never got it under control, allowing a two-out homer to George Springer in the top of the fourth and a leadoff shot to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fifth. His night ended one batter later after a walk to Anthony Santander — who came around to score, finalizing a stat line to forget.
Seattle’s rotation, whose 3.38 ERA and 1.03 WHIP last season led the league, hasn’t reached the same highs this year while dealing with injuries from the get-go. But — with the very notable exception of Bryan Woo, who is set to make his postseason debut in the next couple of days — it’s rounded into both health and form in the playoffs. Both of Kirby’s starts in the ALDS lasted five innings, but despite the shorter length, he put together solid outings, allowing three combined runs, striking out 14 and walking just one before handing the reins to a bullpen that was arguably the collective star of the series.
Wednesday, though, was a tune of a much different sound. It continued after Kirby left. Carlos Vargas allowed hits to four of the six batters he faced. Caleb Ferguson gave up a three-run home run to Kirk in his two frames to put the Blue Jays in double digits, making it the third postseason game in Mariners history with 10 runs or more allowed. Addison Barger capped it all off with a solo home run in the top of the ninth off Luke Jackson, so that every Mariner to take the mound on the night allowed at least one run.
The 18 hits Seattle’s pitchers surrendered as a unit were second-most in franchise playoff history, one shy of the 19 the Mariners allowed to Cleveland in a 17-2 loss in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS.
That blowout defeat pushed the Mariners to the brink of elimination. If there’s any bright spot to Wednesday, it’s that they’re not in a similar big-picture situation. Seattle will give the ball to Luis Castillo, its veteran leader in the rotation, and hope that “La Piedra” can once again be the steady, grounding force he’s been on the mound — especially at T-Mobile Park, where he’s posted a 2.45 ERA this season — to put the Mariners a win away from the franchise’s first World Series.
“One loss doesn’t discourage us,” Kirby said. “No one said it’s going to be easy. Losses are part of the game, and we’re going to come back tomorrow ready to hit, ready to pitch and ready for Game 4.”
