The Blue Jays win the American League pennant with a tense, 4-3 victory of the Mariners in game seven of the ALCS. The series turned out to be one of the rare times a team loses the first two games at home but still wins the series. Toronto outscored Seattle 37-30.
The two offenses operate differently. Seattle swings for the fences, willing to strike out to maximize home runs. The power threat also leads to more walks. Toronto makes contact. They strikeout less, homer less, and walk less, but collect more hits. That’s exactly as the series shook out. The Mariners won the home run and walk column, while the Blue Jays struck out 31 fewer times, collecting 15 more hits. Note that the Blue Jays did not lack power. They collected fourteen doubles to the Mariners five, outslugging Seattle .475 to .440.
That’s an important point. The quality of contact matters. The Blue Jays didn’t just dump singles over the heads of infielders. They hit screamers all over the park. They were fun to watch.
Note that in the NLCS, the other side won the argument. Dodgers pitchers found a way to miss the bats of a ball in play team, and turned their strength into a weakness. Their home run power made their scoring more efficient, and they won low scoring games.
The sides are one and one going into the World Series, and we’ll see which side wins the ultimate argument.