ALCS preview: Seattle, after 15-inning thriller, rests before going to Toronto

TORONTO — The Mariners decided to go sleepless in Seattle instead of being tired in Toronto.

After celebrating their 3-2 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the AL Division Series, the team stayed in Seattle before heading to Toronto for a late Saturday arrival ahead of a AL Championship Series matchup against the Blue Jays.

“Our guys will be ready,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We’ll get there tonight, get some rest, and we’ll be ready to go.”

In the ALCS for the fourth time and first since 2001, Seattle opens the best-of-seven series on Sunday night.

After eliminating the New York Yankees with a Game 4 win in their Division Series on Wednesday night, the Blue Jays were free to relax on Friday. Outfielder Myles Straw and teammate Davis Schneider went out together to a Toronto bar to see who’d they face in the team’s eighth trip to the ALCS, its first since 2016.

“Would have liked to have got out a little bit sooner, but we had a good night,” Straw said of the late finish.

Seattle used three starting pitchers in Friday’s win over Detroit, with Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert both entering in relief.

That leaves Bryce Miller, who started Wednesday, to take the mound Sunday on three days’ rest.

“It’s super cool,” Miller said. “I’m fired up.

Miller threw 55 pitches in Game 4, allowing two runs and four hits in 4⅓ innings.

“We’ll take him as far as he can go,” Wilson said.

Miller will be opposed by Kevin Gausman, who hasn’t pitched since giving up one run and four hits over 5⅔ innings in Toronto’s ALDS opener Oct. 4. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Gausman’s consistency and calm made him the right choice.

“There’s something about his demeanor, just kind of his presence every day, where the day he’s pitching everybody feels a little bit more confident going into it,” Schneider said.

Seattle, the only current big-league team to never host the World Series, has won two games or fewer in three previous ALCS trips, losing once to Cleveland and twice to the Yankees.

Toronto, which lost the ALCS to Kansas City in 2015 and to Cleveland in 2016, won four of six meetings with the Mariners during the regular season, losing two of three at home in April and sweeping a three-game series at Seattle from May 9-11. The teams haven’t faced each other since.

“It’s definitely a fun city,” Seattle star Cal Raleigh said of Toronto. “It’s a nice stadium, and they’re a good team. Always look forward to the challenge of playing them. Just always fun.

Running start

Schneider said shortstop Bo Bichette ran the bases Saturday, the first time he’s done that since spraining his left knee last month. The two-time AL hits leader and two-time All-Star was injured in a Sept. 6 collision with Yankees catcher Austin Wells and hasn’t played since.

“I don’t want to say he’s our last decision, but he’s one of them,” Schneider said. “Obviously you want his bat in the lineup.”

Bichette has been hitting pitching in recent days, taking swings against teammates Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt.

“A lot of swings, looked pretty good,” Schneider said.

Controlling Cal

After doing a good job of keeping New York’s Aaron Judge in check during the Division Series, Toronto’s pitchers now face the job of containing Raleigh. The switch-hitting catcher had 60 home runs during the regular season and hit one more in the ALDS.

Raleigh has seven home runs in 11 regular-season games north of the border and went 4 for 8 with a homer in Seattle’s sweep of Toronto in the 2022 Wild Card Series.

“What a season he’s had and what a great switch-hitter at such a hard position to hit,” Gausman said of Raleigh. “To catch as many games as he has, what a season he’s put together. I also feel confident with myself that I can go out and get him out. I’ve gotten him out before, so now it’s just about mixing up pitches and trying to keep him off balance.”

Trey’d Day

Schneider said rookie Trey Yesavage, who set a Blue Jays postseason record by striking out 11 Yankees in 5⅓ innings in ALDS Game 2, is “a definite possibility” to start the second ALCS game.

Yesavage rose through four minor league levels this season before joining the Blue Jays and going 1-0 in three September starts.

Yesavage walked out to the bullpen during Game 4 Wednesday but Schneider acknowledged Saturday that he didn’t intend to use him in that game.

Yesavage struck out 160 batters in 98 innings in the minors. Including his ALDS start, he has 27 strikeouts in 19⅓ big-league innings.