Mike Vorel: Mariners offense suddenly has too many holes against Blue Jays

SEATTLE — Don’t let the flag fool you.

When Josh Naylor leaned back and launched an 85-mph change-up into the “J-Rod Squad” beyond the right-field fence at T-Mobile Park, he did so with a Canadian flag on his belt buckle. The 28-year-old first baseman hails from Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto.

He keeps bombarding the Blue Jays anyway.

Naylor, of course, is not the problem. His second-inning solo shot gave the Mariners a short-lived, 1-0 lead in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, and his fourth-inning single was their first hit after that. In Thursday night’s deflating 8-2 flop, he finished 3 for 3 with an RBI, a run and a walk, and he’s 12 for 37 (.324) with two homers and three RBIs in the postseason.

The rest of the Mariners offense went 2 for 26.

For the most part, the middle of the Mariners order — Cal Raleigh (2 HR), Julio Rodríguez (4 for 13 with 2 HR) and Jorge Polanco (5 for 15 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs) — has done damage in the ALCS, which is suddenly, stunningly tied at two games apiece.

The problem is, it takes more than a middle to topple Toronto.

The top and bottom of the Mariners order has not done nearly enough.

Where is Randy Arozarena? “Playoff Randy” — one of MLB’s most accomplished October assassins — has not been heard from in a lacking leadoff spot. He’s 6 for 38 in the playoffs and 2 for 15 in the ALCS, with two measly homers since Sept. 1 (a 32-game span). It’s high time the Mariners made changes atop their order.

Where is Eugenio Suárez? The 34-year-old third baseman did crack an RBI single Thursday. But remember when Suárez was considered the best bat available at the trade deadline? In 53 regular-season games since, he slashed just .189/.255/.428. He’s 6 for 36 (.166) with one homer, two RBIs and 14 strikeouts in nine playoff games, providing a hole at the hot corner.

Where is Dominic Canzone (2 for 19 in the playoffs), J.P. Crawford (4 for 23 in his past six games) and Víctor Robles (3 for 26 in the playoffs)? They all have stagnated when the Mariners need them most.

Where is the deep, dangerous Mariners offense that was built for October? That was assembled so Raleigh and Rodríguez weren’t crushed while carrying a city’s aching anxiety? That was geared to grind at-bats, eat pitchers and pass the baton?

Where is the offense that should have shelled Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer?

“It was vintage Max, a future Hall of Famer, and he had everything working tonight,” Crawford said Thursday. “Tip of the cap to him.”

On that subject: don’t let the following facts fool you, either.

In 17 starts this season, Scherzer recorded a crummy 5.19 ERA. That ERA further inflated to 5.37 on the road. In four unsightly September starts, opponents slashed .348/.408/.623 against him, with 24 hits and 17 earned runs in just 15 innings. Plus, though Scherzer owns an impressive playoff pedigree, he allowed 18 hits and 14 runs across 14 1/3 innings in his previous four postseason starts (in 2022 and 2023).

Scherzer couldn’t crack Toronto’s ALDS roster.

On Thursday the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer dominated anyway.

In 5 2/3 innings, Scherzer spotted Seattle just three hits and two earned runs, circling the mound like an untamed tiger after each strikeout. After a strong start to the series, Raleigh, Rodríguez and Polanco went a combined 0 for 9 with four strikeouts, as a sellout crowd of 46,981 was depressingly doused for a second consecutive day.

With an opportunity to claim a commanding 3-1 lead — to seize the moment — Seattle’s stars disappeared. That’s a problem.

The bigger problem, with Toronto ace Kevin Gausman set to go in Game 5, is everybody else.

Consider the bottom of the Blue Jays’ lineup. Second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2 for 3 with 2 runs) and shortstop Andrés Giménez (2 for 4 with a homer and 4 RBIs) both bombarded the Mariners on Thursday. That’s what balance looks like.

Toronto’s offensive explosion, at least, is easily explainable. The Blue Jays offer one of the best offenses in baseball, as evidenced by a .265 batting average (first in MLB) and .761 OPS (third) in the regular season. It doesn’t help, of course, when you surrender a run via a walk and a wild pitch — which Seattle did Thursday. Mariners manager Dan Wilson’s bullpen usage, and the absence of available ace Bryan Woo, also warrants scrutiny.

But to win this series, the Mariners have to hit.

When asked how his team will rebound, Wilson said: “Doing the things that we do offensively, grinding out our at-bats, getting guys on base, and getting them in. Driving the ball in the gaps; that's what we do. And on the mound we attack the zone, and we just need to continue to get back to that. That's what we do well, and we'll get back to that [Friday] and bounce back in the series.”

Of course, Wilson said something similar Wednesday.

Don't let the incessantly recycled sound bites fool you.

On Thursday, an elderly fan at T-Mobile Park held a sign that simply read: “SCORE EARLY AND SCORE OFTEN! YOU CAN’T HAVE TOO MANY RUNS!”

The Mariners, to put it plainly, have had far too few.