ALCS Game 2: Mariners release lineup vs. Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage

by · The Seattle Times

TORONTO — The Mariners will roll out the same lineup for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series facing a pitcher that nearly ended up in Seattle.

Seattle manager Dan Wilson has kept his lineup the same in every game this postseason when facing a right-handed starting pitcher. And they’ll be facing another in Game 2 in promising Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage.

Oddly enough, Yesavage nearly became a Mariner. Yesavage was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft out of East Carolina. He was heavily linked with the Mariners, but concerns around a drop in velocity after Yesavage missed time due to a punctured lung led to the Mariners selecting switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje at No. 16.

AL championship series Mariners 1, Blue Jays 0

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Yesavage made just three starts in the regular season after quickly rising through the minors and was outstanding in his playoff debut against the Yankees when he threw 5 1/3 no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts in an ALDS Game 2 win.

Toronto went with essentially the same lineup as Game 1 to face Logan Gilbert with only a minor swap in the batting order moving Anthony Santander to seventh and Ernie Clement hitting eighth. Nathan Lukes was also back in the lineup in right field after leaving Game 1 early when he fouled a ball painfully off his right knee.

Mariners lineup

  1. Randy Arozarena LF
  2. Cal Raleigh C
  3. Julio Rodríguez CF
  4. Jorge Polanco 2B
  5. Josh Naylor 1B
  6. Eugenio Suárez 3B
  7. Dominic Canzone DH
  8. Victor Robles RF
  9. J.P. Crawford SS

Blue Jays lineup

  1. George Springer DH
  2. Nathan Lukes RF
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. Addison Barger 3B
  5. Alejandro Kirk C
  6. Daulton Varsho CF
  7. Anthony Santander LF
  8. Ernie Clement 2B
  9. Andrés Giménez SS

Roof open

For only the fifth time in their playoff history, the Blue Jays opened the roof of Rogers Centre for Game 2.

Actually, it’s Major League Baseball’s call.

While the Blue Jays have control in the regular season of when the roof is opened or closed — just as the Mariners do at T-Mobile Park — the decision rests with MLB when it comes to the postseason.

There are no set criteria for whether the roof is opened or closed, other than a nice day where fans can watch the game comfortably and without the risk of weather causing an issue. Temperatures on Monday were in the low 60s — or 16 degrees Celsius — and were not expected to drop significantly following the 5:03 p.m. local time first pitch.

Rogers Centre originally opened as the SkyDome in 1989 and started the run of retractable roof stadiums in baseball.