Mariners Have Blue Jays Exactly Where They Want Them

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00:00Mariners have Blue Jays exactly where they want them.

00:04If you weren't already sold on Cal Raleigh as the soul of the Seattle Mariners,

00:08American League Championship Series Game 2 just wrote it in bold, all caps, with a permanent marker.

00:14And then, boom!

00:16Raleigh hits the turf, face down, like the air got sucked out of the whole city of Seattle.

00:22Then the big man jammed his wrist on a play only a few catchers could even attempt, let alone execute.

00:27I'm good, he said. All's good.

00:30And just like that, he stood up, dusted off, and went right back to work.

00:35Seattle beat the Blue Jays 10-3.

00:37Now let's talk strategy, because Toronto manager John Schneider made a call that will be picked apart for years

00:43if the Jays don't make it out of this series.

00:45Fifth inning, runner on second, and he intentionally walks Raleigh.

00:49The last time something like that happened this early in a playoff game,

00:52you've got to rewind the reel to Mickey Mantle, Rick Munday, and Albert Pujols.

00:58But here's the kicker. Seattle made them pay.

01:00Jorge Polanco, who's having a postseason so clutch he should come with a warning label,

01:05crushed a three-run homer.

01:06And from there, it was lights out.

01:09Three straight games with a go-ahead run batted in after the fifth.

01:13Raleigh isn't just calling games.

01:14He's conducting symphonies.

01:16Toronto's offense, which just annihilated the Yankees, has been reduced to a whisper.

01:22Since the second inning of Game 1, they've got one hit.

01:25That's a .024 batting average if you're keeping score.

01:28Raleigh knows these arms.

01:30These arms trust Raleigh.

01:32And the Mariners aren't playing around with finesse pitches or cutesy cutters.

01:36They pound the zone, challenge hitters, and expand when they've got the leverage.

01:40They're not nibbling.

01:42They're coming right at you.

01:44And it's working.

01:45Vlad Guerrero Jr., the Yankees slayer, he's 0 for 7 with 6 grounders.

01:49That's not a slump.

01:51That's a shutdown.

01:52Against lefties in the American League Division Series, Vlad 8.

01:55But Seattle?

01:56They're feeding him sliders and sinkers from the right side like it's a buffet of kryptonite.

02:01Now the series heads back to Seattle, where the Mariners are practically unbeatable.

02:05But let's be real.

02:07The real battleground is right there between the mound and home plate.

02:11And if Cal Raleigh is standing tall behind it, this team isn't just dangerous.

02:16They're historic.