Mariners take commanding 2-0 lead in the ALCS

Julio Rodiguez (YouTube)

The Seattle Mariners are in complete control of the 2025 American League Championship Series. After beating the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 in the first game of the best out of seven series on Sunday night in Canada, the Mariners powered their way to a dominant 10-3 win on Canadian Thanksgiving Monday at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

Three Mariners hit game two home runs. Centerfielder Julio Rodriguez of Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic had a three-run home run in the first inning, second baseman Jorge Polanco of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, and Canadian Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ontario hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

You can make the argument that this is one of the biggest home runs in Rodriguez’s career. It came in top of the first inning with nobody out. Rodriguez has another Canadian connection. That is because he is currently dating Canadian Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Huitema of Chilliwack, British Columbia. Huitema won gold in women’s soccer at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the NLCS with a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. What we saw on Monday night in Wisconsin, was absolutely brilliant pitching from Blake Snell, who ironically hails from Seattle. Snell pitched eight shutout innings, and had 10 strikeouts compared to zero walks. Of Snell’s 103 pitches, 69 were strikes. Of the 24 batted he faced, Snell only gave up a single hit. Meanwhile, Canadian Freddie Freeman had two extra base hits, as he had a double and home run.