Blue Jays come alive as they knock out Mariners’ George Kirby in ALCS Game 3

The Blue Jays scored just four runs in the first two games of the American League Championship Series.

Things turned around in a big way on Wednesday night as the series flipped to Seattle.

Toronto — trying to recover from a 2-0 series deficit — swatted three home runs and put eight runs on the board against starter George Kirby as the Blue Jays’ offense finally sprang to life.

The Mariners grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Julio Rodriguez’s two-run shot, but two innings later, the Blue Jays broke through with a five-spot in the third, kick-started by a double from Ernie Clement and a two-run homer from Andres Gimenez.

George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each belted solo homers to center field in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.

Kirby started the fifth inning but failed to record an out, ultimately getting charged with the first eight runs of the game.

Wednesday’s outing for Kirby could not have been any different than his stellar start in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Tigers, when he allowed one earned run over five innings to keep the Mariners in a game that they’d eventually win in 15 innings.

Toronto started the ALCS with a leadoff homer from Springer in Game 1, but had been kept in the ballpark up until Gimenez’s blast on Wednesday.

Trailing 2-0 in the series, Game 3 is a must-win for the Blue Jays, and their bats have done their part.