MLB playoff takeaways: Mariners take 2-0 series lead; Blake Snell dominates for Dodgers in Game 1

The 2025 MLB playoffs have reached the Championship Series, with both games unfolding on Monday. The Seattle Mariners trounced the Toronto Blue Jays 10–3, taking a 2–0 lead in the ALCS. The Los Angeles Dodgers held off a late ninth-inning rally to outlast the Milwaukee Brewers 2–1, grabbing a 1–0 lead in the NLCS.

Here are key takeaways from Monday's games:

Jorge Polanco stays hot to lift Mariners to a 2-0 ALCS lead

Polanco delivered another standout performance in the Mariners’ 10–3 win over the Blue Jays, leading Seattle to its 2–0 series lead.

He went 2-for-4 at the plate, highlighted by a three-run home run in the fifth inning that broke a 3–3 tie. With the homer, he became the first player in MLB history to record a go-ahead hit in the fifth inning or later in three consecutive postseason games, per Stats Perform.

Polanco's bat has been scorching throughout October — he's driven in six runs across the first two games of the series, with six of his first seven hits resulting in an RBI.