American League Division Series, Game 3
RHP George Kirby (3.39 ERA) vs. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2.27 ERA)
1:07 p.m. | T-Mobile Park | Seattle
TV: TBS | Radio: Seattle Sports 710 AM
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ALDS Game 3
Mariners vs. Astros
A look outside T-Mobile Park two hours before first pitch
Gates don’t open for 40 minutes, game doesn’t start for three hours, but there’s already quite a line and atmosphere outside T-Mobile Park for the first Mariners home playoff game in 21 years pic.twitter.com/Q5P2YPBMNt
— David Gutman (@davidlgutman) October 15, 2022
Jeff and Yuko Bispham, of Federal Way, in matching JRod Show t shirts:
“How can you not be excited about this? Excited, nervous, just gonna take it all in.” pic.twitter.com/h5A9xlsu7c— David Gutman (@davidlgutman) October 15, 2022
Mariners, Seahawks and Huskies monitoring air quality with smoky weekend expected in Seattle
If you’re having trouble believing it’s really mid-October, you’re not alone.
Between the unseasonably warm and smoky weather, and postseason baseball at T-Mobile Park, this weekend will be nearly unrecognizable in Seattle.
But the August-like smoke could impact the Mariners, Seahawks and Huskies along with the thousands of fans expected to turn out for the major sporting events Saturday and Sunday.
While the region continues to battle active fires in the Cascade Mountains, the Seattle area has been socked with another round of haze, and air quality has deteriorated. On Friday air quality in the region reached “unhealthy” levels, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 152, according to AirNow, home of the U.S. Air Quality Index.
They may be down 0-2, but the Mariners are back home and they believe
Maybe it’s naiveté borne out of inexperience and youth. They’ve never been here before, so they don’t know how difficult of a situation they find themselves in following the heartbreak in Houston.
Maybe it’s a true belief borne out of comebacks after being counted out and finding ways to persevere and produce when everyone felt they should pack it in.
Whatever the reason, and it’s probably a combination of the two plus an unwavering conviction in the character of each other and their ability to climb out of a self-created hole with a 29-39 record on June 20 and into the first postseason appearance since 2001, the Mariners believe if others don’t.
In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Astros, dropping them to 0-2 in the American League Division Series and on the brink of elimination, the Mariners were resolute in their resiliency and their ability to rebound Saturday when postseason baseball returns to the city for the first time since 2001.
“We play well with our backs against the wall,” infielder Dylan Moore said.
They are backed up to a brick wall against Houston.
Julio Rodriguez says playing in front of Mariners fans in playoffs is ‘what it’s all about’
On the eve of the first home playoff game of his young career, Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez smiled widely for the cameras. He has been waiting for this moment his whole life.
Rodriguez has become a fan favorite and one of baseball’s biggest stars over the course of his rookie season. With plenty of dramatic heroics at the plate, impressive catches in the outfield, and a star-making turn at the Home Run Derby this past July, Rodriguez has quickly become a beloved figure in Seattle and around the baseball world.
As much as Mariners fans love Rodriguez, it seems that he loves them right back in equal measure. Rodriguez interacts often with his adoring supporters in the “J-Rod Squad” section in T-Mobile Park’s center-field seats, gets a roaring ovation every time he comes to the plate and chats with fans regularly on social media.
Earlier this week, Rodriguez retweeted and replied to a viral video of local Mariners fans celebrating the team’s dramatic 10-9 comeback win over Toronto in the Wild Card Series last Saturday, saying, “We enjoy it different in the PNW!!!”
Can Seattle fans make a difference in ALDS? Mariners are counting on it
Once, long ago, the Mariners came home from a best-of-five playoff series down two-games-to-none and needing a miracle.
They got it.
It might seem foolish to pin your hopes on a 27-year-old precedent, but it also seems fitting. The Seattle franchise has always clung possessively to the magic of 1995, so why not one more time, when they need it the most?
Just like in 1995, when the Mariners were riding the euphoria of the first playoff appearance in their history, it will be a frenzied, pumped-to-the-gills crowd — riding the euphoria of the Mariners’ first home playoff appearance in 21 years — trying to will them to victory Saturday in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
And it will take another miracle. The Mariners absorbed two agonizing losses in Houston, squandering a lead with two outs in the ninth in the first one, and blowing a lead in the sixth inning in the second one.
Mariners turn to rookie George Kirby to face Astros in Game 3 with season on the brink
Their season on the brink, the Mariners will hand the ball over to a 24-year-old rookie to make his first postseason start in the first playoff baseball game in Seattle in 21 years.
Deep breath, folks. George Kirby’s got this.
In a rookie season that has surpassed any reasonable expectations — and all workload projections — Kirby credits his breakthrough to breathing techniques he’s developed with Adam Bernero, the team’s mental conditioning coach.
He’ll no doubt need them at some point Saturday afternoon against a vaunted Houston Astros lineup for Game 3 of the American League Division Series. It’s a win-or-stay-home game for the Mariners, who trail 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
Seattle Times sports staff