ALCS: Kirby’s Game 3 collapse defies Seattle’s postseason formula
When the postseason lights shine bright, George Kirby has proven brighter. It’s why Mariners manager Dan Wilson named him the Game 1 starter of the American League Division Series. It’s why he was next in line for last weekend’s do-or-die Game 5 with the Detroit Tigers, the spark in Seattle’s 15-inning instant classic. And looking back, it’s why Kirby threw seven shutout frames in a must-have 2022 ALDS Game 3 — when his archrival Houston Astros prevailed 18 innings later.
“Furious George” was one of four pitchers in postseason history to record 20+ strikeouts and two-or-fewer walks in his first four playoff appearances, joining the likes of Yu Darvish (2012-17) and Christy Mathewson (1905-1911). He owned a 2.70 ERA in his last six home starts of the regular season, more than comfortable in the pitcher-friendly confines of T-Mobile Park.
All of it made Wednesday night’s collapse in Game 3 of the ALCS that much more head-scratching.
“No one said it’d be easy,” Kirby said.
This wasn’t the Kirby a city has known and loved since 2022, the all-business competitor with a more-than-serious demeanor and knack for dominating the strike zone. It wasn’t what a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Park expected, nor wanted — a quick, painful demise at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays in the city’s first ALCS home game since 2001.
A Kingdome-like implosion defied Seattle’s — and Kirby’s — postseason formula. The starters were sensational in the ALDS, the bullpen equally nasty. Pitching has remained this franchise’s identity for nearly a decade, since Logan Gilbert and Kirby were selected in the first round of consecutive MLB Drafts (2018-19) and anointed as future aces. Not Wednesday.
Julio Rodriguez jolted a rocking T-Mobile Park with a majestic two-run homer in the first inning — but the Blue Jays offense rose from the ashes of J-Rod’s bomb and rolled the Mariners, 13-4, in Game 3 of the ALCS in Seattle. The Mariners still lead this best-of-seven series, 2-1, but lost the momentum ahead of a crucial Game 4.
It wasn’t the standing ovation Kirby was accustomed to, either, as Mariners manager Dan Wilson emerged from the first-base dugout to relieve a dejected 27-year-old when bad turned worse. A rambunctious postseason atmosphere on a packed October night soon resembled a chilly, Tuesday night in May.
Kirby walked briskly from mound to clubhouse. He allowed three home runs, surrendering eight hits and eight earned runs while issuing two walks and four strikeouts with a wild pitch. The historically-great strike-thrower threw a total of 74 pitches, mostly sinkers and sliders, though just 47 found the zone.
And unlike the rest of the Mariners rotation, Kirby was throwing on typical rest. His last appearance was a spellbinding performance in Game 5 of the ALDS, the magical 15-inning night of Oct. 10 capped by Jorge Polanco’s walk-off single that sent them here. Kirby shut down the Detroit Tigers across five-plus innings, striking out six without a walk and allowing one earned run on a two-run homer eventually surrendered by Seattle reliever Gabe Speier.
This was the opposite.
It won’t entirely show on the box score, but Kirby rolled early. He retired six of Toronto’s first seven batters with well-placed four-seamers and an effective slider. But all of it unraveled in a 28-pitch third inning, following Rodriguez’s two-run blast that sent T-Mobile Park into bedlam and immediately lifted the Mariners ahead, 2-0.
From then on? A dozen unanswered Blue Jays runs, two-thirds of them charged to Kirby.
“I definitely came out the way I wanted to,” he said. “I wasn’t really executing when they got the guys on base, and they’re really aggressive when that happens. They made some swings. I wasn’t really making a lot of good pitches there in the third and fourth.”
It creates an intriguing battle: Aggressive pitching versus aggressive hitting.
Toronto won Round 3.
In the third inning, Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement pulled an inside Kirby sinker into the left field corner for a leadoff double. An innocent, anomalistic piece of hitting, at first glance. A frightening foreshadowing, in hindsight.
Two pitches later, Toronto nine-hitter Andres Gimenez had launched a skyscraping two-run homer into the right-field seats that tied Wednesday’s game at two. Blue Jays left fielder Nathan Lukes drove an inside Kirby sinker to center field for a one-out single; Guerrero Jr. then rocketed his first of three extra-base hits off the left field wall for a double. Gone were the good vibes.
Alejandro Kirk drew a walk before Kirby’s wild pitch allowed Lukes to coast home. Daulton Varsho cranked another off-the-wall double to right field on the next pitch, blowing Game 3 open and capping a five-run frame.
46,471 fell quiet.
“I thought (George) came out with one of the best fastballs we’ve seen in the first couple of innings,” Wilson said. “And I thought the way it was coming out of his hand looked great. They were able to get to some pitches on the plate in that third inning. … (Toronto) is a team that’s swung the bat well all year.
“They didn’t miss much tonight.”
Guerrero Jr. went 4-for-4 with a fifth-inning solo blast, two doubles, a single, and a walk on a night that pulled Toronto right back into this best-of-seven ALCS. Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber threw six strong innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.
Kirby had allowed just three earned runs in four prior postseason appearances (18 IP). Wednesday night more than tripled that total.
“I was just trying to be really cute with it,” he said. “Some sliders just leaked over the middle. Missed a heater to Gimenez there. Tried to go up, threw it down. It’s alright. Next time I’m out there, I’ll fix that.
“I’m never going to stray away from what I do well — get ahead and be in the zone.”
Shocking? Yes. Unbelievable? No — Toronto was one of MLB’s best offenses in 2025, leading all major league clubs in team batting average (.265) and hits (1,461). They ranked third in team OPS (.760) throughout the 2025 regular season and crushed New York Yankees pitching in four games of the ALDS, still pacing postseason clubs in OPS (.890) and slugging percentage (.542).
It’s why many national pundits picked Toronto’s offense to prevail in this ALCS opposite Seattle’s dynamite pitching staff. George Springer remains one of the league’s premier leadoff hitters. Guerrero Jr. has ascended into the game’s elite. And though Seattle’s Cal Raleigh is baseball’s most-dangerous catcher with the bat in his hands, Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk makes a strong case as the next man on that list — whose .282 batting average led all qualified MLB backstops in 2025.
The Blue Jays, considered baseball’s best “comeback” team, are showing why. When Rodriguez yanked a three-run homer in the first inning of Game 2, Toronto rallied to tie the game by the second inning. That story materialized again at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, only more severe.
If the Mariners can’t win Games 4 and 5 in front of their home crowd, they’ll board another flight bound for Canada — where a potential pennant celebration would be stunningly quieter.
Seattle’s Luis Castillo starts Game 4 at T-Mobile Park for a 5:33 p.m. PDT first pitch on Thursday night. The Mariners host Game 5 on Friday before the series returns to Rogers Centre for Games 6 and 7, if necessary. And the Blue Jays, now one game back, are exactly where they want to be.
“It’s kind of what we did all year,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “No one expected us to win the (AL East). No one expected us to be here, and I think the guys take that to heart. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they came about today.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 8:49 PM with the headline "ALCS: Kirby’s Game 3 collapse defies Seattle’s postseason formula."
