SEATTLE — Everything was going the Seattle Mariners' way in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Until it wasn't.

The Mariners took the first two games of the ALCS at Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Blue Jays responded in kind by taking Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Seattle's, which scored 13 runs in the first two games in Canada, has been outscored 21-6 in the pair of contests in the Pacific Northwest.

With the offense in a tailspin, the Mariners made a major change to the lineup and moved center fielder Julio Rodriguez to the lead-off spot and bumped left fielder Randy Arozarena to the five-hole ahead of Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday.

"I think the message continues to stay the same," Seattle's senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez said in a pregame news conference Friday. "What we have shared to the players throughout the year. The last two games — I believe that (Shane Bieber) and (Max Scherzer) pitched really well. Credit to them. They made pitches. ... Our team always has been able to make adjustments. And we just hope that today is that day where we make adjustments and they can take advantage of mistakes. ... We will have a meeting today and we will talk to them about what we need to do to win today."

Throughout the entire season and the playoffs, Seattle has preached staying the course and looking at the game in front of the team, whether that's coming off a win or a loss.

It was the mentality preached by players and coaches after the Mariners' 8-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the American League Divisional Series. It was the mentality preached by the team following series losses to the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays during the regular season. Seattle won 10 straight after that and eventually clinched its first division title since 2001.

It's the mentality the team is trying to stick to now.

"When we're at our best, we're grinding out at-bats one after the other and seeing a lot of pitches, getting deep into counts and making that pitcher work," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame news conference Friday. "Drawing walks and whatever we can do to get on-base. I think that's where we're at and that's what we need to continue to do and find ways to do that more consistently. And once we do that, being able to get them in. We have hit some home runs in this series, which has been good, but to have a more consistent offense — I think it takes hitting home runs as well as scoring traditionally. That's when we're gonna be at our best."

Seattle will look to regain the series lead against Toronto at 3:08 p.m. PT on Friday at T-Mobile Park. Bryce Miller will start for the Mariners and Kevin Gausman will start for the Blue Jays.

RELATED MARINERS STORIES

MARINERS MAKE MAJOR LINEUP CHANGE AHEAD OF GAME 1 OF ALCS: Julio Rodriguez will lead-off for the Mariners in a major shift to the offense from the last several months. CLICK HERE

MARINERS SEASON LIES ON ARM OF THEIR MOST ENCUMBERED PITCHER: With the American League Championship tied 2-2, Bryce Miller will be tasked with sending the Mariners back to Canada with a lead. CLICK HERE

MARINERS FALL PREY TO BLUE JAYS LINEUP AGAIN IN GAME 4 OF ALCS: The Blue Jays evened the American League Championship Series 2-2 after another dominant offensive showing at T-Mobile Park. CLICK HERE

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!