Gregor Chisholm: The Jays’ offence was the problem in Game 1 loss to Mariners. Two strikes and they’re out

On paper, the Blue Jays entered the American League wild-card series against the Seattle Mariners with a vastly superior lineup. They better start showcasing that offensive firepower in a hurry, otherwise their season is going to be over in a blink of an eye.

Blame right-hander Alek Manoah all you want after the No. 1 starter put his team in an early deficit on Friday afternoon, but it doesn’t really matter how the pitchers perform if they don’t get any run support. In Game 1, the supposedly potent bats were nowhere to be found.

The Jays couldn’t do much of anything against Luis Castillo, who was acquired by the Mariners from the Reds at the trade deadline for this exact scenario. Manager John Schneider’s squad barely made the all-star righty sweat as he carved through the batting order en route to 7 1/3 scoreless innings while consistently hitting 100 m.p.h. in the Jays’ 4-0 loss at the Rogers Centre.

“We’re used to seeing velocity; it’s all throughout the league,” said Jays second baseman Whit Merrifield, who went 1-for-3 in his post-season debut at age 33. “But when he’s got two different fastballs at that level, he has a sinker pounding out your hands at 99 to 100 m.p.h., and then he has the four-seam that he’ll throw up and away ... You’re having to make a decision on what that 100-m.p.h. pitch is going to do, and that’s what makes it tough.”

Regular-season stats don’t mean much at this time of year, but they at least set a baseline for what to expect in October. The Jays entered this series having scored 775 runs, fourth-most in the majors; the Mariners were a distant 18th with 690. Based on how the opener went, one might have assumed those numbers were reversed.

The Mariners came out of the gates hot and took advantage of Manoah, who wasn’t sharp early. Star rookie Julio Rodríguez was hit by a pitch and later came around to score on a double by Eugenio Suárez. In the very next at-bat, catcher Cal Raleigh hit a no-doubter to right field for a two-run shot. Just like that, Manoah and the Jays were down 3-0 before some fans had even reached their seats.

It was a deficit that would prove insurmountable because Manoah’s counterpart was dealing. In the first inning, Castillo blew the Jays away with a series of heaters, Bugs Bunny changeups and sharp sliders. He required just 11 pitches to get through the opening frame as George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all went down in order. That proved to be a sign of things to come.

The Jays did have a couple of chances. They just couldn’t capitalize.

In the third, Guerrero stranded a pair of baserunners with a lazy fly ball to centre. In the fifth, Bichette did the same on a weak grounder to second base. Castillo pitched into the eighth before handing things over to the bullpen. He scattered six hits and didn’t walk a batter while striking out five in dominating fashion.

“Those are big spots when you’re facing a pitcher like that,” said Schneider, whose team dropped to 2-6 against the Mariners this year. “When you get traffic on the bases, you want to come through with a big hit. It’s tough to do against a guy like that, really tough with two outs.”

The Jays have a deep and talented lineup, but it’s also notoriously streaky. During the regular season, their bats often went quiet for long stretches before breaking out. It’s why they hit rock bottom in early July, and it’s why they excelled throughout September.

Much of the credit goes to Castillo for his dominating performance, but that can’t be used as an excuse in October. Almost every playoff team, especially this year, has elite pitchers in both the rotation and the bullpen. The Mariners have two more of those in store for the Jays in lefty Robbie Ray and potential Game 3 starter Logan Gilbert.

So, while the Jays at least have the top Mariners arm in the rear-view mirror, their road ahead isn’t going to get much easier. It’s simple, really. Either the Jays’ bats break out or they’re not going to survive the weekend.

“Every single pitcher we face in the playoffs is going to be a good pitcher,” said Bichette, who went 1-for-4 and left three on base. “(Castillo) was on his game for sure. I thought we had good at-bats. I thought we just missed some pitches. He’s a guy with great stuff, he competed well and did a good job.”

The last time MLB went with a best-of-three opening-round format was in 2020, after a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Six teams that won Game 1 went on to secure the sweep. The other two were the Oakland A’s and San Diego Padres, who lost the first game and took the next two from the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively.

The Jays were part of that post-season and didn’t score much then, either. They were limited to three runs by the Tampa Bay Rays in a two-game sweep that seemed over almost as soon as it began.

A lot of the faces have changed since then. This year was supposed to be different, and still might be, but Friday’s script was very much the same as before.

Still, there’s enough talent this year to break out with little notice, and all it might take is one big inning.

That didn’t happen in Game 1. If it doesn’t happen in Game 2, the Jays’ season is bound to end in heartbreak for the second consecutive year.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca