It was, in so many ways what the ratcheted stakes of baseball the deeper you go into October brings you. Article content

Tension. Drama. And on this night, anyway, not a lot of offence. Article content Article content

But man, did Game 1 of the best-of-seven ALCS between the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners start with a bang before a sellout crowd of 44,474 at the Rogers Centre on Sunday night.

The first pitch faced by a Toronto hitter — the rejuvenated George Springer — caused an eruption under the closed roof as the Jays started their first trip to the this round of the MLB post season since 2016 at full volume.

Unfortunately, that was the only contact of consequence to exit a Blue Jays bat as the dangerous Mariners team struck first, with a clinical 3-1 win.

For much of the night

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