Mariners take commanding 2-0 lead over Blue Jays in ALCS - ESPN

TORONTO — J.P. Crawford, the longest-tenured member of the Seattle Mariners, has experienced different tastes of disappointment in his seven seasons in the Pacific Northwest. A last-place finish. Falling just short of reaching the postseason three times. Playoff exhilaration getting abruptly extinguished the one year they did make it.

Sometime early this season, the shortstop explained after the Mariners completed perhaps the most important road trip in franchise history with a 10-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series, he believed this team was different.

«We know we're a good team,» Crawford said. «And now everyone knows that we can do this thing and that's what's lighting the fire underneath everyone.»

The Mariners are now just two wins from doing the thing — winning their first American League pennant and advancing to the World Series for the first time in franchise history — with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. It is the first time they've ever led an ALCS by multiple games. It is the 28th time in postseason history that the road team has won the first two games of a best-of-seven series. Only three of those clubs went on to lose the series.

«We think about it,» said second baseman Jorge Polanco, who swatted a go-ahead three-run home run in the fifth inning to give Seattle a lead they didn't relinquish. «We hear it a lot. We know. But the mentality is just keep it simple. Just try to refocus on playing game by game.»

Less than 24 hours after the Mariners, wearied coming off an emotional 15-inning win in Game 5 of the AL Division Series on Friday, stole Game 1 with a late-inning comeback fueled by adrenaline, they opted for a less dramatic