SEATTLE (AP) — It was a productive night for George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Two of Toronto’s biggest stars led the way for the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series on Wednesday.
Springer and Guerrero each hit a solo shot as Toronto finished with five homers overall. Springer had three hits, and Guerrero went 4 for 4 and scored three times in a 13-4 victory over the Mariners.
“It feels great obviously, but for me, it’s just about winning,” Guerrero said through a translator. “I’m very happy we won the game. I never think about myself.”
The Blue Jays dropped the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Toronto, ramping up the pressure on the AL East champions for Game 3. Springer went 2 for 8 with a solo homer in the first two games, and Guerrero was 0 for 7 with a walk.
But the two sluggers played a major role in a fast start for Toronto in Seattle.
Springer hit a two-out solo homer off George Kirby in the fourth, driving a 94.8 mph sinker deep to center. The 431-foot shot was Springer’s 22nd postseason homer, moving him into a tie with Bernie Williams for fourth on the career list.
The four-time All-Star has three homers this postseason. He also connected on Bryce Miller’s first pitch of Game 1.
“I think as a team, it was a good overall game,” Springer said. “It’s on to the next.”
Guerrero led off the fifth with a 406-foot drive off Kirby that went just over the glove of a leaping Julio Rodríguez at the wall in center.
The five-time All-Star reached on an infield single in the first. He doubled and scored on Daulton Varsho’s two-run double in Toronto’s five-run third.
Guerrero was a triple away from a postseason cycle when he batted in the eighth with Toronto holding a 12-2 lead. He hit a liner into the gap in right-center that rolled all the way to the wall, but third base coach Carlos Febles signaled for Guerrero to stay at second.