Blue Jays' ALCS win over Mariners should look familiar to Guardians fans 

On Wednesday, the Toronto Blue Jays blew out the Seattle Mariners 13-4 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. While the game took place at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, the blueprint for the win was built nearly 2,400 miles away at Progressive Field. 

The Blue Jays win came on the back of contributions from former Guardians, as Shane Bieber tossed six strong innings on the mound while Andrés Giménez provided a big blast in the form of a game-tying two-run home run in the third inning. 

Although Giménez and Bieber kind of fell out of the spotlight in 2024 due to injuries and inconsistency, it wasn’t that long ago that their contributions helped the Guardians pick up wins. In fact, there were four separate games during their Guardians' tenure where Bieber tossed 6+ innings on the mound and Giménez hit a home run in support. 

Former Guardians Andrés Giménez and Shane Bieber carried the Blue Jays to a win Wednesday

The first occasion came on June 30, 2022 when Bieber threw six strong innings and Giménez ended the game with a two-run walk-off home run off Tyler Thornburg. 

The next instance came later that season in September when Bieber shut down the Twins for 7 1/3 innings and Giménez blasted a solo home run in the second inning. 

They linked up again in 2023 in a win over the Astros on June 11 (Bieber tossed seven shutout innings) and a loss to the Diamondbacks a week later. 

But all of that places in comparison to their performance on Thursday. After allowing two runs in the first inning against the Mariners, Bieber settled in to not allow any runs over his final five innings of work.

In total, he allowed those two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over six innings. He became the first Toronto pitcher to finish six innings in October since Marco Estrada in the 2016 ALCS.

His early mistake was wiped away by his old friend Giménez, who launched a two-run home run on a George Kirby fastball over the heart of the plate. It was his first career postseason home run and his first longball since Aug. 27. 

The Blue Jays entered the game needing a victory after dropping the first two games of the series to the Mariners. But Giménez and Bieber stepped up to help them pick up a much-needed win. 

While they’re two of seven former Guardians who have a chance to win the World Series, the Guardians could still end up winning the trades that sent Bieber and Giménez out of town.

The Giménez trade lost a lot of its luster thanks to Luis Ortiz’s suspension, but prospect Josh Hartle was just named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Year after a strong showing in the minors (to say nothing of the Guardians not being on the hook for the rest of Giménez’s contract). 

The Blue Jays traded for Bieber for starts like Wednesday, but he’s an impending free agent with a rising price tag. 

There's still a lot that needs to happen before we'll have the full context of the Guardians' trades that sent Bieber and Giménez north of the border, but Wednesday was a reminder of just how good they can be.