SEATTLE — The Toronto Blue Jays faced bleak odds the last time they came to T-Mobile Park to face the Seattle Mariners. They trailed the American League Championship Series 2–0 after losing the first two games at home, and only four of the 30 teams facing such dire circumstances in previous postseasons were able to rally to take the lead.
But six strong innings of two-run ball from Shane Bieber combined with five offensive homers led to a 13-4 victory in Game Three. The Blue Jays won Game 4 before losing the last of three games in Seattle and then, of course, rebounding to win the final two games at home to advance to the World Series.
“Fun memories, incredible series, tough series. We were definitely on our heels going into Game 3,” said Bieber, who “loved” the challenge of starting such a crucial game. “Max (Scherzer) and I were talking about this the other day – there’s something about being a road dog. It’s a fun thing to embrace. Obviously you’d rather not be down 2-0 or just lose in general, but that’s what baseball is all about. And the team we had last year was ready for it. So it’s always fun and it’s a great challenge.”
The stakes won’t be quite as high this weekend, although the Blue Jays, still out of luck at 41-46 after three bumpy months due to injuries and roster attrition, look to turn their fortunes around on the West Coast once again. This nine-game road trip to Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego is a chance to catch up before the All-Star break.
It begins Friday (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) when Dylan Keys faces off against Luis Castillo, followed by Bieber vs. Logan Gilbert on Saturday and Trey Yesavage vs. George Kirby in Sunday’s finale.
Just like they did last October, the Blue Jays are once again simply looking for wins to seal them.
“Definitely. It’s a momentum game, right? It comes and goes, especially throughout a seven-game series; winning is very rare, so you have to ride through the ups and downs and try your best,” Bieber said. “In a way, that’s what we’re trying to do this season, looking forward to it. It’s nice to look back and we look back on those memories fondly, but we also have to look forward to what’s to come. We’ll try to build some momentum here and keep going.”
Manager John Schneider, still trying to get his team to play more in sync, believes there is some benefit from returning to a “heightened sense of awareness and competitiveness” from a “really, really emotional time last year.”
“They’re a damn good team,” he said of the Mariners, who have also spun their wheels to this point in 2026. “We love playing there. We can enjoy the atmosphere there. I think it’s good for the guys, to be honest.”
Bieber will be keeping a close eye on Game 1 to see how Seattle’s hitters approach Keyes, looking for nuggets he can apply to his Saturday outing.
The right-hander will make his third start since returning from elbow inflammation that cost him the first half of the season and hopes to make more progress with mechanical adjustments to get him “a little more athletic on the mound.”
The search for consistency with such patches does not typically occur from start to finish; it takes some time,” said Bieber, who at the same time admitted that “there’s no real time to make adjustments, at least in terms of results.”
“I have to go out and compete and expect to win ball games. That’s my job,” he continued. “I’m not going to tell you exactly how I want to attack Seattle, but I think the first game will tell us a lot about how they want to approach our pitchers. Obviously, Dylan throws really hard, but I feel like we’re both relying on our hard skills. Seeing what each guy’s plan of attack is against him maybe can give me a little cue going into the next game.”
Miles turns up the heat: Wednesday’s bullpen day in a 9-3 win over the New York Mets couldn’t have gone much better, as the Blue Jays got one inning from rookie Braydon Fisher, three innings from the dominant Spencer Miles and five innings from the newly demoted Patrick Corbin.
The spot appears only one more time before the All-Star break – Tuesday in San Francisco – and Miles will be available for primary duties on five days’ rest after hitting 97.5 mph with his fastball and hitting a high of 99.4, a personal best.
John Schneider said the three shutout innings with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts were “the best I’ve seen him throw.”
“He always had a very good attitude and a very good demeanor. I don’t know if it was Canada Day or the red jersey or what, but he seemed like a little bit of a different guy,” he continued. “But it was impressive, both the material and the execution. I’m running out of things to say about it.”
Miles had no explanation for the swing, but in this remarkable season of self-discovery, it’s another milestone for the 25-year-old, who has pitched just 23.1 innings of professional ball over the last three years due to injuries.
“When you see it once,” he said of scoring 99, “it’s like a chain has been broken. Now your brain is going to think, OK, I can speed up and keep going up and throwing punches without losing control. It’s kind of like confidence, and then it’s like the chain is broken and I can keep doing it now.”
Key for keys: The main challenge for Blue Jays rookie Sean Keys entering this season has been improving his mental approach at the plate, learning to sit more effectively on certain pitches depending on the pitcher’s tendencies in certain spots.
His first major league home run was a byproduct of that. After hitting a curveball in his first game against Freddy Peralta, he took another hook on the first pitch of his second at-bat and then sent a fastball over the left field wall on his next pitch.
In between games as DH, he talked with hitting coach David Popkins and assistant Lou Iannotti, then went to work on the Trajekt machine to prepare for the game-tying hit.
“This is the ultimate level because these are the best of the best, so I’m trying to take what I used and excelled at in the minor leagues and then try to take the best approach,” Keys said.
“I like the way the Blue Jays do their scouting reports on pitchers. I’m used to it, so I know where to look and what I’m looking for, whether it’s a fastball or what off-speed pitches they have, velocity.”