2025 American League Championship Series

2025 American League Championship Series

Toronto Blue Jays 94 - 68 in the AL	3 - 2 Series Summary	Seattle Mariners 90 - 72 in the AL

Overview[edit]

The 2025 American League Championship Series matched two teams that were both created in the expansion of 1977 and who had not played in the World Series in recent years. in fact, the Seattle Mariners were the only MLB franchise never to have reached the Fall Classic, while the Toronto Blue Jays had not been able to return after winning back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993. It would be an understatement to say that the two fanbases were hungry for their team to advance. The two teams had met once in the postseason, in the 2022 Wild Card Series, when Seattle had upset Toronto by winning both games at the Rogers Centre. At the same time, the Blue Jays' annual visit to Seattle in recent years had been veritable home games, because a massive number of Jays fans would descend from the western provinces of Canada to cheer on the team supported by an entire country, swathing T-Mobile Park in blue.

It was a tight series, with both teams winning the first two games played in their opponents' ballpark. However, the Mariners took a three-games-to-two lead with a come-from-behind win at home in Game 5, but the Blue Jays came back to win the final two games at home, staging their own comeback in the final innings of Game 7 to secure their ticket to the World Series. There were plenty of great performances on both sides, but in the end it was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who was named the ALCS MVP after batting .385 with 3 doubles and 3 homers in the seven games.

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Blue Jays: John Schneider | Mariners: Dan Wilson

Blue Jays

Mariners

Umpires[edit]

Ryan Additon, Ben May, Alfonso Marquez (crew chief), Marvin Hudson, D.J. Reyburn, and Quinn Wolcott

Doug Eddings was the reserve umpire in Game 1 and entered the rotation as home plate umpire in Game 2

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Seattle Mariners 3 Toronto Blue Jays 1	October 12	Bryce Miller (1-0) Kevin Gausman (0-1)	8:03 pm
2	Seattle Mariners 10 Toronto Blue Jays 3	October 13	Logan Gilbert (0-0) Trey Yesavage (0-1)	5:03 pm
3	Toronto Blue Jays 13 Seattle Mariners 4	October 15	Shane Bieber (1-0) George Kirby (0-1)	8:08 pm
4	Toronto Blue Jays 8 Seattle Mariners 2	October 16	Max Scherzer (1-0) Luis Castillo (0-1)	8:33 pm
5	Toronto Blue Jays 2 Seattle Mariners 6	October 17	Kevin Gausman (0-1) Bryce Miller (1-0)	6:08 pm
6	Seattle Mariners 2 Toronto Blue Jays 6	October 19	Logan Gilbert (0-1) Trey Yesavage (1-1)	8:03 pm
7	Seattle Mariners 3 Toronto Blue Jays 4	October 20	George Kirby (0-1) Shane Bieber (1-0)	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Rogers Centre[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	7	1
Blue Jays	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
WP: Bryce Miller (1-0); LP: Kevin Gausman (0-1); SV: Andrés Muñoz (1)
Home Runs: TOR - George Springer (1); SEA - Cal Raleigh (1)

Attendance: 44,474

Some time after defeating the New York Yankees in the Division Series, the Blue Jays forgot how to hit, and it cost them dearly tonight, as it had almost done when they were trying to defend their lead in the division race in late September. Was it really that Bryce Miller, who was basically the only pitcher available to start for Seattle after their marathon game to defeat the Detroit Tigers in their own Division Series, was that good? In any case, the Blue Jays looked like high school kids, popping everything up into the air against a pitcher with an ERA of 5.68 during the season while managing a measly two hits. Kevin Gausman pitched well enough for Toronto, with five dominant scoreless innings to start the game, but he hit a bump in the 6th and was immediately removed from the game, after which the Jays' bullpen made sure that Seattle would have enough runs to win.

As mentioned, Gausman hardly allowed anything to Seattle through the first five innings. His only difficulties came in the 1st inning, when Cal Raleigh singled with one out and advanced to third on a single by Julio Rodríguez. With the infield drawn in, Jorge Polanco hit a ground ball directly at 3B Addison Barger, who threw home and retired Raleigh, who was running on contact. Gausman then got Josh Naylor to line out to end the inning, and was dominant for the next four, retiring the next 12 batters in order. For Miller, though, the game started on a bad note as his very first pitch of the evening was swung at by George Springer, who sent it deep over the right-field wall for an opposite-field homer, the first lead-off homer in Blue Jays postseason history by the man who had hit more of those than anyone in major league history, save for Rickey Henderson. Here's hoping that the hometown fans who packed the Rogers Centre got to enjoy the moment, as they would have nothing else to cheer about for the rest of the game. The second batter, Nathan Lukes, fouled a pitch hard off his right knee. He gamely played on, drawing a walk, but would have to leave with a bad contusion only a couple of innings later. After Miller retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the first of countless fly balls, he walked Barger, but got Alejandro Kirk to pop up and Daulton Varsho to fly out to end the inning. The good news for Toronto was that they would strand just two more baserunners the entire evening; the bad news was that that was because they hardly put anyone else on base all evening.

After his initial faux pas, Miller was absolutely dominant. He gave up a single to Anthony Santander with one out in the 2nd, which was compounded by RF Victor Robles letting the ball bounce past him for an error (he held his laminated fielding chart in his mouth at the time, which led announcers to speculate he might not have been paying full attention when the ball was hit). This did not lead to any damage though as Miller retired the next two batters, on his way to retiring 12 in a row. In the 6th, Gausman got the first two outs, running his consecutive streak to 14, but nothing went right for the Blue Jays after that. Raleigh, who had been one of the most dangerous hitters in the majors all season but had been relatively quiet in the first round, introduced himself to a large audience by hitting a huge homer that traveled over 420 feet to right field to tie the game. Gausman then walked Rodríguez and was removed from the game even though he had thrown just 76 pitches and had been dominant. John Schneider probably thought he had a shut-down bullpen, having forgotten all about the Yankees series, and it cost him dearly. Lefty Brendon Little quickly unleashed a wild pitch to advance Rodríguez to second, and Polanco followed with a single to give Seattle the lead. That would saddle Gausman with a completely undeserved loss, with Little getting off scot-free for his act of sabotage.

Miller's own streak of consecutive batters retired ended when he walked Barger with two outs in the bottom of the 6th, but his manager did not trip over himself in his eagerness to get him out of the game. He let him finish the inning, which he did by getting Kirk to fly out. Louis Varland then started the 7th for Toronto by giving up a double to Eugenio Suarez, but he managed to extricate himself after Suarez advanced to third on a ground out by Dominic Canzone. Varland completely fooled Robles with a string of knuckle curves at which the outfielder flailed aimlessly, striking out for the second out, and J.P. Crawford grounded out after Varland had fallen behind 3 and 0. The Jays had escaped but were still trailing. It was now Seattle's turn to deploy its bullpen arms, but contrary to Toronto, theirs had just been tested under the toughest of conditions, and even if it was the only pitcher who had been hit hard in the previous series in Gabe Speier who came out first, he did not look vulnerable at all, retiring the Jays in order on three more fly balls. In the 8th, Seranthony Dominguez replaced Varland, and it was his control that failed him. He walked Randy Arozarena, but after striking out Raleigh, Arozarena stole second and third base on consecutive pitches. Dominguez then walked Rodríguez as well. It's unclear why Julio did not attempt to steal second, as there was no way the Blue Jays would have attempted a throw with Arozarena likely to steal home if they did, but Rodriguez let three pitches be thrown, including one in the dirt, without budging, and it cost Seattle a run because Polanco's single to right only drove in one run. Dominguez was replaced by Mason Fluharty who then showed some really nasty stuff in striking out both Naylor and Suarez to end the inning without further damage. However a 3-1 deficit was a huge hill to climb with the big arms remaining in Seattle's bullpen, and the Jays were unable to wake up their sleeping bats. Local Kingston, ON boy Matt Brash retired them in order in the 8th, and in the 9th it was closer Andrés Muñoz who got the ball and he mowed through the middle of the Jays' order, starting with Guerrero, as if there was nothing to it. It took him just eight pitches - seven of them strikes - to get two fly balls and a ground out.

Game 2 @ Rogers Centre[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mariners	3	0	0	0	3	1	3	0	0	10	10	1
Blue Jays	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	1
WP: Eduard Bazardo (1-0); LP: Trey Yesavage (0-1)
Home Runs: SEA - Julio Rodríguez (1), Jorge Polanco (1), Josh Naylor (1)

Attendance: 44,814

Before Game 2 started, the Mariners had an open boulevard to the World Series laid out before them, given they had won Game 1 and were facing a raw rookie in Game 2, before heading home. Granted, the rookie, Trey Yesavage, had flummoxed the Yankees' batters in his only other postseason start, but he was still very inexperienced and had been pitching in Class A at the start of the season. Against him, the Mariners were sending one of their top pitchers in Logan Gilbert, the only question being how long he could go after making an outing out of the bullpen in the marathon clinching game in the Division Series. Indeed, the Mariners broke Yesavage's cloak of invincibility quickly, scoring three runs before an out was recorded in the 1st. The Blue Jays managed to come back from that knock-down blow over the next two innings, but when the Mariners landed another big punch in the 5th, against the Jays' sub-par bullpen once again, there was no coming back. The Blue Jays looked like little leaguers playing against grown men for the remainder of the game, and Seattle ended up with a lopsided win, with their confidence through the roof.

The Mariners got a bit of help from home plate umpire Doug Eddings in the 1st with Randy Arozarena at bat as it looked to everyone in the ballpark, including Arozarena himself, that Yesavage had struck him out looking, but Eddings decided otherwise, and a few pitches later, with a full count, he was hit by a pitch. Yesavage then walked Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez hit a splitter deep into the left field stands for a three-run homer. Incredibly, it was the first homer that Yesavage had ever given up as a major leaguer. To his credit, he could have fallen apart at that point, but he found his bearings, and got three outs while only allowing another hit, a single by Josh Naylor, who once again demonstrated his uncanny ability to steal bases in spite of not possessing any sprint speed. He was left stranded though, and in the bottom of the 1st, George Springer led off by hitting a ball just wide of the left field foul pole, and then hitting a pitch near the top of the fence in left field for a double. Nathan Lukes, back in the line-up after his injury scare the night before, followed with a grounder to Naylor at first base. The man from Mississauga had no chance at retiring Lukes, but still attempted a throw to the pitcher Gilbert, but it was behind him for an error, allowing Springer to score and Lukes to take second. After a ground out by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., now officially back in a slump after a great Division Series, and a strikeout by Addison Barger, Alejandro Kirk hit a single to right, and the Mariners' lead was down to 3-2. In the 2nd, Ernie Clement led off with a single by lunging at a pitch only a few inches off the ground, then he advanced two bases on two ground outs. After his bad call in the 1st inning, Eddings now gave the Blue Jays a break, by missing a strike three call on Springer, who eventually received a walk. That allowed Lukes to hit a single and drive in the tying run. It was a remarkable comeback after the Jays could easily have folded, but the effort seemed to take everything out of the team.

Gilbert left after three innings, but the Mariners' first reliever, Eduard Bazardo, was dominant. Yesavage was also good after the 1st inning, not giving up anything over the next three except for a single by Naylor, but Arozarena led off the 5th with an infield single, on which SS Andres Gimenez made an ill-advised throw to first base, which was well out of Guerrero's reach and ended up bouncing off Eugenio Suarez, who was sitting on the dugout steps, and out of play. After a discussion and a video review, Arozarena was awarded second base. This led to the Jays walking Raleigh intentionally and replacing Yesavage with Louis Varland. He struck out Rodriguez but the next batter, Jorge Polanco, making an early bid for the series MVP Award, blasted a pitch just over the fence in center for the M's second three-run homer of the game. This time, however, the Jays did not have another big comeback in them. Bazardo worked around a single in the bottom of the inning to set the tone for the rest of the game, then the Mariners kept adding insurance runs. In the 6th, Mason Fluharty allowed a lead-off triple to Mitch Garver on a ball near the wall in center that Daulton Varsho would normally have caught nine times out of ten. Garver was replaced by pinch-runner Leo Rivas who came in to score on a single by J.P. Crawford. In the 7th, the Mariners completely blew the game open when Polanco singled with one out and Naylor pleased the large number of friends and family members encouraging him at the ballpark by hitting a two-run homer. Yariel Rodriguez then loaded the bases with three consecutive walks, and Chris Bassitt, a starting pitcher coming off the injured list, came in to clean up the mess, allowing run number 10 on a sacrifice fly by Crawford. By now both managers were giving some of their reserve players some playing time, with pitcher Emerson Hancock, who looked a bit rusty, making his first outing of the postseason for Seattle. He allowed a few baserunners but handled the last two innings without giving up a run. The Mariners could smell the World Series - they were that close now.

Game 3 @ T-Mobile Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blue Jays	0	0	5	1	2	4	0	0	1	13	18	0
Mariners	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	8	1
WP: Shane Bieber (1-0); LP: George Kirby (0-1)
Home Runs: SEA - Julio Rodriguez (2), Randy Arozarena (1), Cal Raleigh (2); TOR - Andres Gimenez (1), George Springer (2), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1), Alejandro Kirk (1), Addison Barger (1)

Attendance: 46,471

Badly needing a win, the Blue Jays turned the tables on the Mariners in Game 3, going into their house and banging the ball all over the yard. If their bats had been quiet so far, it wasn't the case in this game, as they collected 18 hits and scored 10 or more runs for the third time already this postseason, having done so twice in the previous series against the Yankees. Five of the hits were homers, and while Seattle hit three, two of these were back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the 8th when the game was already lost. On the mound, Shane Bieber bounced back from a poor outing against the Yankees and from a rough 1st inning to complete six innings of two-run ball, giving up just four hits while striking out eight; at times he looked very much like a former Cy Young Award winner. In contrast George Kirby had been excellent in two starts against the Tigers, but tonight, once the Blue Jays got to him in the 3rd, he fell apart completely an ended up surrendering eight runs in four innings to take the loss.

Kirby started off well though, pitching scoreless ball through the first two innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did break out of his torpor from the two games in Toronto with a two-out single to 3B Eugenio Suarez in the 1st, compounded by a throwing error, but that was it. Meanwhile, Seattle started just where it had left off in Game 2, as Randy Arozarena led off the bottom of the 1st with a walk off Bieber, and after Cal Raleigh had popped up for the first out, he stole second base and Julio Rodríguez hit a homer to deep left for a 2-0 lead. "Here we go again" thought legions of Blue Jays fans, who had seen the 1st inning play out in almost exactly the same fashion two days earlier. Bieber also seemed to still be struggling with his command, as had been the case in his previous start, leading his manager to turn to his bullpen early - which was not something the Jays were looking forward to. Things looked even worse when Jorge Polanco followed with an automatic double to right field, but Bieber set himself straight after that, retiring Josh Naylor on strikes and Suarez on a pop-up. He then continued in the 2nd by striking out the side.

The game turned around in the 3rd inning. Ernie Clement, a base hit machine since the start of the postseason, led off with a double, then Andres Gimenez followed with a homer to right field to tie the score 2-2. Kirby completely fell apart after that. He got George Springer to fly out, but Nathan Lukes singled and Guerrero hit a breaking ball on a line, leaving his bat at 104 mph and crashing less than a foot from the top of the left field fence and leaving a dent, for a double. Both runners stayed put when Anthony Santander grounded out to 1B Naylor, then Kirby, whose control is normally superb, obviously pitched around Kirk, walking him to load the bases. Daulton Varsho was also in a slump, as Guerrero, Kirk and a few others had been since the start of the series, and he lunged at a pitch in the dirt, missing it entirely - but so did Cal Raleigh. The wild pitch advanced everyone 90 feet and gave the Blue Jays the lead for the first time. Daulton then hit a pitch to the right-field corner for a double, and even the slow-footed Kirk had no difficulty scoring from second base, making it 5-2. Toronto had scored more runs in the 3rd than in the whole of the first two games. Bieber then threw a shutdown inning, stranding Rodriguez on first base after a two-out single, and the Blue Jays added another run in the 4th, when Springer hit a solo homer to center field after two outs. In the 5th, Guerrero led off with a homer to center for his third hit of the game; as Blue Jays announcer Dan Shulman put it, this and Springer's hit were "big boy homers", slugged to the deepest part of the ballpark in conditions not normally favorable to the long ball. After Kirby walked Santander, his night was done. Carlos Vargas took over, but he could not cool down Toronto's bats. Kirk greeted him with a single and after two outs, Clement hit a line drive to right. Santander scored from second, crossing the plate before the Mariners managed to cut off Kirk at third base. It was now 8-2, however, and Bieber was in full control, reeling off two more scoreless innings in the 5th and 6th before calling it a night, having thrown 88 pitches. He probably could have gone on longer had the lead not been so huge.

The Blue Jays weren't done yet, however. Gimenez singled to lead off the 6th and made it to third on a single by Springer. Out went Vargas and in came Caleb Ferguson who got Lukes to ground out to first, but another run crossed the plate. Guerrero was given an intentional walk, bringing up Myles Straw, who had taken over on defence for Santander. Straw went down swinging, but the next batter, Kirk, hit the Jays' fourth homer of the night, this one a three-run shot to right field, and it was 12-2. Braydon Fisher pitched the bottom of the 7th, but Yariel Rodriguez, who had failed to retire anyone in Game 2, had some more trouble in the 8th. He got J.P. Crawford to pop up but then gave up consecutive long balls to Arozarena and Raleigh. That got the crowd excited for the first time since the 2nd inning, but did not really change things, as it simply turned a ten-run deficit to an eight-run one. Yariel Rodriguez did manage to complete the inning, getting his namesake Julio Rodriguez to fly out and striking out Leo Rivas. Then Toronto got one of the two runs back when Addison Barger led off the top of the 9th with his first homer of the postseason, off Luke Jackson. It was lefty Mason Fluharty who was asked to pitch the 9th for Toronto and while he gave up a single to pinch-hitter Harry Ford and threw a wild pitch, he got the last three outs without allowing a run. The Jays were back in the series.

Game 4 @ T-Mobile Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blue Jays	0	0	3	2	0	0	1	2	0	8	11	0
Mariners	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	0
WP: Max Scherzer (1-0); LP: Luis Castillo (0-1)
Home Runs: SEA - Josh Naylor (2); TOR - Andres Gimenez (2), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2)

Attendance: 46,981

Baseball history buffs will remember the story of Howard Ehmke, the seemingly washed-up pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics who came out of mothballs to befuddle the Chicago Cubs' hitters completely in Game 1 of the 1929 World Series and send the A's on their way to a championship. Max Scherzer played the part of Ehmke in Game 4. He had had an injury-plagued season, going 5-5 with an ERA of 5.19 and missing large chunks of playing time for the Blue Jays. In September, he had gone 0-3 with an ERA of 10.20 in 4 starts, leading the Jays to leave him off their roster for the Division Series, preferring to go with a bullpen game in his spot. But here he was starting tonight, with his sixth different postseason team, and he turned in a great performance, pitching until two were out in the 6th inning to earn the win, adding one more chapter to his legend. Before the game, the Jays had had to place OF Anthony Santander on the injured list with back tightness, meaning he was done for the postseason, and to replace him John Schneider decided to insert IF Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the line-up. That meant moving Ernie Clement to 3B and Addison Barger to RF, positions neither had played in a month, but the choice of Kiner-Falefa was an inspired one, as he was one of the main artisans of Toronto's win. Yet the Mariners were confident going into the game, as their starter Luis Castillo had a solid record of pitching well in the postseason, including a magnificent start against these same Blue Jays in Game 1 of the 2022 Wild Card Series.

Castillo started out strong, retiring the Blue Jays in short order in the top of the 1st, while it took Scherzer a few batters to get his bearings after three weeks of inactivity. He got Randy Arozarena to ground out, but after going ahead 0 and 2 on Cal Raleigh, he walked him, and then walked Julio Rodríguez in turn. But before Schneider could get someone to start warming up, Scherzer induced Jorge Polanco to hit a ball to SS Andres Gimenez, who was perfectly positioned next to second base, and he started an easy inning-ending double play. In the 2nd, Clement hit a two-out single but Barger hit a screaming liner to shortstop, only to see J.P. Crawford leap a good foot-and-a-half vertically to make the catch. Josh Naylor then led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to right and Seattle was in the lead, with T-Mobile Park rocking. The Mariners would not be able to do anything against Scherzer after that, however. "Mad Max" began to look like his old self as he retired the next three batters in order, and would continue dominating the Mariners for a good stretch. Meanwhile, the top of the 3rd for Toronto was almost a carbon copy of what had happened the night before. This time, it was not Clement but Kiner-Falefa who started the inning with a double, his going down the left-field line, but once again Gimenez came up and pulled a ball into the right-field stands for a two-run homer. This time, it gave the Blue Jays the lead, and they would never look back. After one out, Nathan Lukes singled, as did Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk worked a walk to load the bases. Stunningly, that was the end of Castillo, lifted after getting just seven outs, and the Mariners' relievers had a big night ahead of them, with the game still very tight. Thrown into a very tough situation, Gabe Speier managed to escape with only minimal damage, his walk to Daulton Varsho pushing across a third run, but he then got both Clement and Barger on strikes to end the inning.

Still, the game was now turned around with Toronto having a 3-1 lead, and after sitting around the dugout a long time, Scherzer started the bottom of the 3rd with a walk to Leo Rivas. However, he got Arozarena to line out to left, then picked off Rivas at first base on a play that required a video review to overturn the initial safe call. He finished things off by striking out Raleigh, then the Blue Jays went right back to work on offense. Kiner-Falefa once again led things off, this time with a single, and he was bunted over to second by Gimenez. George Springer followed with a double that made it 4-1. A ground out by Lukes advanced Springer to third, bringing up Guerrero. The lefty Speier gave way to the righty Matt Brash. He managed to get Guerrero to fly out, but not before he had thrown a wild pitch that had allowed Springer to score a fifth run. In the 5th, Dominic Canzone managed a lead-off single off Scherzer, who then retired both Crawford and Rivas. Schneider came to the mound to see how his pitcher was feeling, at which point the cameras clearly showed Max shouting to his manager to get back to the dugout as "I got this". And indeed, he struck out Arozarena on four pitches to end the inning. Not only that, but he returned for the 6th after the Jays had wasted Barger's lead-off double against Carlos Vargas in the top of the inning. Scherzer got two quick outs before walking Polanco, and this time when Schneider came out, it was to replace his 41-year-old veteran with rookie Mason Fluharty. Things weren't exactly pretty for the youngster as he walked Naylor before giving up a single to Eugenio Suarez, on which Polanco scored, but Naylor was gunned down at third base by Barger, ending the inning. The score was now 5-2, and there was still hope for Seattle, as Toronto's bullpen had not exactly been shut-down of late. However, by now the Blue Jays' bats were out in full force, and they added insurance runs in their next two turns, essentially putting the game completely out of reach. In the 7th, Guerrero hit a solo homer off Eduard Bazardo, and in the 8th Gimenez hit a two-run single off Emerson Hancock to make the score 8-2. For Toronto, Louis Varland retired the Mariners in order in the 7th, Jeff Hoffman did the same in the 8th, and Seranthony Dominguez handled the 9th, allowing a single to Naylor and throwing a wild pitch, but not giving up a run. The series was now tied.

Game 5 @ T-Mobile Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	5	0
Mariners	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	x	6	5	0
WP: Brendon Little (0-1); LP: Gabe Speier (1-0)
Home Runs: SEA - Eugenio Suarez 2 (2), Cal Raleigh (3)

Attendance: 46,758

The momentum was back with Toronto as Game 5 started, although the pitching match-up was a good one for Seattle, with Bryce Miller, coming off a great performance in Game 1, facing off against his opponent from that game, Kevin Gausman, with Bryan Woo also finally able to help out for Seattle - he had been the Mariners' best pitcher during the regular season before a September injury had put him on the sidelines. It turned out to be a low-scoring game until the 8th inning, when the Mariners were able to take advantage of the Blue Jays' bullpen, one of their main weaknesses and one which both the Mariners and the Yankees before them had exploited to their advantage so far in the postseason. This time, the pressure the Mariners put on Toronto's relievers was too much to bear, and they cracked in spectacular fashion, with Brendon Little allowing up a game-tying homer and then setting the table for Seranthony Dominguez to give up a game-winning grand slam to Eugenio Suarez in the 8th. The win brought Seattle within one win of their first-ever trip to the World Series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a double off Miller with two outs in the 1st, confirming he was indeed red hot again, but he was left stranded, as was Cal Raleigh, who doubled off Gausman with one out in the bottom of that inning. In the 2nd, the Jays went down in order, but in a familiar pattern, the Mariners opened the scoring with a homer that inning, this one coming off Suarez's bat with one out. There was no one on base, though, so it was just a 1-0 lead, and it lasted for a couple more innings. Andres Gimenez had a chance for a three-peat in the bottom of the 3rd, following his two two-run homers in a similar situation in the previous two games: after a lead-off double by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, he hit the ball hard, but it was straight at 1B Josh Naylor, who turned it into a double play. In the 4th, Nathan Lukes led off with a double. Guerrero was issued an intentional walk to bring up Alejandro Kirk, who walked as well, loading the bases. This was a chance to do serious damage, but Toronto was unable to drive in any run, as Daulton Varsho struck out and Ernie Clement grounded into a double play. It was a huge missed opportunity and one of a number that would come back to haunt the Jays. They did manage to tie the game in the 5th, when Addison Barger led off with a single, ending Miller's day. He was replaced by Matt Brash who got two outs, but George Springer was able to break the ice with a double. Brash then walked Lukes and had no choice but to face Guerrero. The confrontation between the two Canadian-born players ended with Vlad striking out on a full count.

Woo made his postseason debut to start the 6th and immediately gave up a double to Kirk. The catcher scored one out later on a single by Clement and Toronto was in the lead for the first time, 2-1. However, they were unable to increase that lead as the next two batters made outs. Meanwhile, Gausman was having a very strong outing, but after he walked Randy Arozarena with two outs in the bottom of the 6th, he gave way to Louis Varland. Gausman was just at 91 pitches, so it was a bit of an early hook by John Schneider, especially since he now needed his bullpen to get ten outs - a lot for that unreliable crew. Varland issued a walk to Suarez before getting J.P. Crawford to ground out, so it was still 2-1. In the 7th, Woo hit Springer with a pitch on the right knee after one out, and Springer had to leave the game. Joey Loperfido ran for him and made it to second on a ground out by Lukes, which led to Seattle issuing another intentional walk to Guerrero. But Woo got Kirk to ground out and yet another scoring opportunity was wasted. Varland pitched a strong bottom of the 7th, though, and there were now two innings left to go, with Toronto holding on to a one-run lead, while Seattle hadn't done much of anything at the plate all game. It would all change in the 8th inning.

Gabe Speier took over for Seattle in the top of the 8th and he delivered a perfect inning. Schneider now called on Little to pitch the bottom of the inning. He had led the American League in appearances during the season and was considered part of Schneider's "circle of trust", although his numbers weren't great and he had been hit hard by the Yankees. Cal Raleigh did not care about any of this; he just turned around to bat right-handed, and after two balls, promptly deposited the ball in the left-field stands for a game-tying homer. But Seattle was just getting started. Little completed his three-batter minimum by walking Jorge Polanco and Naylor, leaving a mess for Dominguez. He hit Arozarena with a pitch to load the sacks, bringing up Suarez who delivered his second homer of the game. Suarez had been very quiet in the postseason until this game, but his performance tonight was enough by itself to justify his acquisition at the trading deadline. The ball was hit over 350 feet to right field and made the score 6-2, with Suarez upping this RBI total to five. That was the game. Dominguez recorded the final three outs, but it was too late. Andrés Muñoz came in to pitch the 9th in what was no longer a save situation and the demoralized Jays went down in order to end the game. It was really the win that got away for the Jays, and a perfect send-off from T-Mobile Park for the Mariners who would head to Toronto with their confidence boosted to maximum level.

Game 6 @ Rogers Centre[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	7	3
Blue Jays	0	2	2	0	1	0	1	0	x	6	11	0
WP: Trey Yesavage (1-1); LP: Logan Gilbert (0-1)
Home Runs: TOR - Addison Barger (2), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3); SEA - Josh Naylor (3)

Attendance: 44,764

They say the double play is the pitcher's best friend. Whoever "they" are, they must have had Game 6 in mind. For young Trey Yesavage, the double play came to bail him out of trouble in three consecutive innings at a critical point of the game, and in contrast Seattle's defence was less than perfect, committing three errors, leading to three runs. The Blue Jays built a 5-0 lead by the end of the 5th inning, on their way to a 6-2 win that knotted the series and forced a decisive Game 7. On the mound, Yesavage pitched into the 6th inning, giving up just 2 runs, while the more experienced Logan Gilbert had a rough outing, continually having to deal with baserunners and giving up five runs in just four plus innings. The Blue Jays finally gave their hometown fans something to cheer about in the series, as this was their first win at the Rogers Centre.

After getting off on the wrong foot in his Game 2 start, Yesavage was much better in this game, and it started with a 1-2-3 1st inning that included a strikeout of Cal Raleigh. The Blue Jays stranded a baserunner against Gilbert in their half of the inning, then Yesavage struck out the side in the top of the 2nd. Toronto struck first in the bottom of that inning. Daulton Varsho led off with a single to center, and the Mariners committed the first of three errors on the night when Julio Rodriguez bobbled the ball, allowing Varsho to take second base. Ernie Clement then hit the ball to third, where Eugenio Suarez committed error number two, as he was safe at first base with Varsho holding still at second. Addison Barger followed with a single to right to drive in a first run and Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled as well, on a ball deflected by Suarez, to make it 2-0. For a rare time in this series, the Blue Jays had struck first, and Seattle would not be able to come back.

A big turning point in the game occurred in the 3rd inning. Seattle could easily have gotten back in it when they loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a single. That brought up Raleigh, their most dangerous hitter, but after the obligatory mound conference, he swung at Yesavage's first pitch and hit a grounder to first. People tend to forget that Guerrero is an excellent defensive first baseman with a great arm, and that one of his specialties is starting double plays from his position. That is exactly what he did here, fielding the ball, sending a perfect relay to SS Andres Gimenez for the second out, with Gimenez in turn relaying the ball to Yesavage covering first base to end the inning with no damage done. The Blue Jays then immediately doubled their lead when Clement hit a ball just a foot from the top of the wall in left field, making it to third base standing up, and Barger followed with a long homer to right field. And then, the top of the 4th had a strong sense of déjà vu for Seattle, as after one out, they again loaded the bases, on two singles and a walk, and this time it was J.P. Crawford who hit a tailor-made double play grounder to 2B Kiner-Falefa. One more threat snuffed out. And why not make it three? In the 5th, Dominic Canzone led off with a single, but Yesavage struck out Leo Rivas and Rodriguez was the one who grounded into a twin killing, this one started by Gimenez. The Jays completed the demoralization effort when Guerrero led off the bottom of that inning with his third homer of the series, another no-doubter, this one to left field. That was the end for Gilbert, who gave way to Eduard Bazardo. He gave up a two-out double to Clement, but nothing else.

Yesavage returned for the 6th inning and retired the first two batters before Josh Naylor took him deep to right field for the Mariners' first run. He then gave up a single to Randy Arozarena, which prompted John Schneider to bring in reliever Louis Varland, a decision that was not very popular with the fans, who were well aware of their bullpen's atrocious performance in Game 5. Suarez followed by dropping a ball behind first base, and Arozarena, who was running on the pitch, made it all the way home on what was just a single. The crowd was getting really nervous by this time, but Varland struck out Crawford to end the inning, and the lead was still 5-2. The Blue Jays quickly went down in order in the bottom of the inning, but Varland had a great 7th inning, retiring the Mariners in order, as they were now down to six outs. The Jays added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, thanks to some more iffy defensive play by Seattle. With one out, Matt Brash hit Guerrero on the right elbow with a pitch, and Alejandro Kirk followed with a single, with Guerrero stopping at second. A pitch by Brash then bounced maybe three feet away from Raleigh, but that was enough for Guerrero to race to third, and Raleigh made a poor throw to third base; the ball ended up in left field, Guerrero scored easily and Kirk went to second. Brash struck out Varsho but then walked Clement and Barger to load the bases, before finally ending the inning by getting Kiner-Falefa to fly out to right. Schneider then did not fool around in his choice of pitchers for the final two innings: he immediately brought out closer Jeff Hoffman, and while Hoffman could be erratic at times, this outing was a good one. Over two innings, he faced seven batters, gave up just one walk, and struck out four as Seattle was unable to get anything going. He did not earn a save because the Jays had a four-run lead when he came in, but it was still one of his best outings ever.

Game 7 @ Rogers Centre[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mariners	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Blue Jays	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	x	4	10	0
WP: Kevin Gausman (1-1); LP: Eduard Bazardo (1-1); SV: Jeff Hoffman (1)
Home Runs: SEA - Julio Rodriguez (3), Cal Raleigh (4); TOR - George Springer (3)

Attendance: 44,770

The Blue Jays got the right hit at the right time to defeat the Mariners, 4-3, in Game 7 and secure their return to the World Series for the first time in over three decades. The three-run homer by George Springer in the bottom of the 7th inning turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead, as the Blue Jays pulled the same trick on Seattle that the Mariners had turned on them in Game 5. Until then, it had been a tight game, but the Mariners had had the best opportunities and had capitalized on them. Their challenge was to get that slight lead to their closer, Andrés Muñoz, to nail down the win, but they were unable to do so, as one of the relievers who had been so good all postseason until now, Eduard Bazardo, faltered at the worst possible moment. Starting pitcher George Kirby had done his part to get them there, giving up one run in four innings, but it was a hard slog, as it was for his rival Shane Bieber, who left after 3 2/3 innings. But the entire game revolved around one key moment, Springer facing Bazardo with two on and one out in the bottom of the 7th, and the veteran Springer hitting a no-doubt homer destined to live on forever in team lore that sent a huge crowd of almost 45,000 at the Rogers Centre in a frenzy that did not subside until the game was over.

After a strong performance in Game 4, Bieber had a much tougher time of it tonight. His command was off and the Mariners attacked his breaking balls all night, getting a lot of hits, but doing a lot less damage than could have been. The troubles started in the 1st, when Julio Rodriguez led off with a double. After Bieber managed to strike out Cal Raleigh, he gave up a single to Josh Naylor - manager Dan Wilson had decided to group all of his hottest hitters at the top of the line-up - and Seattle was quickly up, 1-0. But the Mariners could not press their luck. Jorge Polanco followed with a ground ball to 3B Ernie Clement, who was playing well off the line, so much so that he could touch the second base bag himself for the second out, but his throw to first base deflected off the back of Naylor's helmet. Blue Jays manager John Schneider came out immediately to protest the play, but before he could start an argument, crew chief Alfonso Marquez told him that the umpires would review it. All six of them conferred for what seemed to be a long time, but they made what was clearly the right decision: Naylor had committed interference by making no attempt to get out of Clement's way even if he was still far from the bag, instead jumping up and turning the back of his head towards the throw to deflect it. Polanco was declared out on the back end of the double play as a result. In the bottom of the inning, Kirby started off by walking Springer, a rare misstep for a pitcher with normally impeccable control, but a costly one. After one out, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a single to left, a ball that was hit so hard that Springer could go no further than second. Kirby then struck out Alejandro Kirk after a long battle, but Daulton Varsho came up with a clutch two-out hit, a single to center that scored Springer with the tying run. Guerrero went to third, but Kirby got Clement to fly out to center to end the inning.

Bieber continued to have to work hard over the next couple of innings as the first two batters for Seattle in the 2nd both reached base on singles, after which J.P. Crawford laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance them to scoring position. Bieber struck out Leo Rivas for the second out and then got Victor Robles to hit a soft grounder to 1B Guerrero to escape the inning. In the 3rd, he gave up a lead-off homer to Rodriguez, the second one hit by the Mariners' center fielder off him after his two-run shot in Game 3, that put Seattle back in the lead, 2-1. He then gave up another hit in the inning, a two-out single by Polanco. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays got a two-out single by Andres Gimenez in the 2nd before going down in order in the 3rd, so the momentum was clearly with Seattle. In the 4th, Crawford doubled with one out and Robles drew a two-out walk, spelling the end for Bieber. Schneider understandably did not want him to face Rodriguez a third time after Julio had hit an extra-base hit off him the first two times they had faced one another in the game, so he brought in Louis Varland. It was Louis' tenth outing in eleven games this postseason, as he was clearly one of Schneider's go-to pitchers, even if he had surrendered a couple of home runs already. This time, though, he got Rodriguez to ground out to third base as Seattle stranded two more runners. But that meant it would be a long night for the Jays' bullpen, which had not been a strength of late, and in the 5th inning, the bullpen cracked as Raleigh hit his fourth homer of the series, a drive to right field to lead off the inning against Varland. It increased Seattle's lead to 3-1. In the bottom of that inning, Kirby gave way to Bryan Woo, who had been Seattle's best starting pitcher all year but who had been unable to pitch until Game 4 after a late-season injury. Woo walked the first man he faced, Gimenez, but got out of the inning with a double play grounder by Nathan Lukes.

It was now a question of finding out if the Blue Jays' bullpen could keep the game close and whether their hitters could get a run or two before the Mariners could send in their lock-down closer, Muñoz, in the 8th or 9th inning. At this point, every out mattered. Seranthony Dominguez recorded three of them for Toronto in the top of the 6th, retiring the Mariners in order, and Woo did the same in the bottom of the inning after striking out Guerrero at the end of a nine-pitch battle that featured four consecutive two-strike foul balls. Kirk followed with a single but could not move any further. Schneider then started to pick from a different set of pitchers for the next couple of innings, even if he had had two of his rookie relievers, Braydon Fisher and Mason Fluharty, warming up at one point. It was his ace starter, veteran Kevin Gausman, who was asked to pitch the 7th. It was not an elegant inning, as it started with a walk of Robles and featured two more free passes before it ended, but the Mariners were unable to score. Gausman helped himself by getting Rodriguez to ground into a double play, and the second of the three walks was an intentional one to Raleigh, with the bases empty no less. The walk of Naylor which followed was not intentional in any way, but Gausman was able to get Polanco to ground out to Isiah Kiner-Falefa at second base to end the inning. And then came the biggest inning of Toronto's season. Addison Barger led off by working a walk off Woo, and Kiner-Falefa followed with a single to center. The number 9 hitter, Gimenez, author of two key homers in the series, was asked to bunt this time and executed the strategy perfectly, forcing Woo to field the ball and throw to first base, with the two runners moving to scoring position. Wilson decided to remove Woo and have one of his top relievers in Bazardo face Springer. He elected not to walk him in spite of first base being open and maybe it was a case of familiarity breeding contempt, but Springer got all of Bazardo's second pitch, driving it 399 feet to right field for a homer. Everyone in the ballpark knew it was gone as soon as Springer hit it, and the game was completely turned around in an instant. The ballpark erupted into an explosion of noise that would not die down until the game was over. This was a moment in Blue Jays history destined to join Joe Carter's home run to end the 1993 World Series and Jose Bautista's great bat flip of 2015 as one of the highlights in team history. Bazardo and the entire Mariners team were visibly shaken after that, as Lukes followed with a single and Guerrero hit perhaps the hardest ball of the night. It was measured at 111 mph by Statcast, but a launch angle of 11 degrees meant it topped at perhaps 20 feet above the ground and was in LF Randy Arozarena's glove in an instant. Hit anywhere else or just slightly higher, it would have been sure extra bases. Bazardo then struck out Kirk to end the inning.

The Blue Jays now had to get six outs. Their closer, Jeff Hoffman, had given them two innings the night before, so another prolonged outing was out of the question. Schneider turned to another starting pitcher, one of the men who had given him countless solid innings over the years, Chris Bassitt, just back from a late-season injury like Woo. There's an advantage to sending a thirty-something veteran to the mound who has seen it all before, it's that he is unlikely to be overwhelmed by circumstances, and that was the case for Bassitt. He threw harder than he would have in a starting assignment - there was no reason to pace himself - but he had the Mariners' batters feeling the stress. Arozarena swung at his first pitch and hit a harmless grounder to short. Suarez was up next and watched a slow curve nip the corner of the plate on a full count; Suarez was in complete disagreement with umpire Quinn Wolcott's call, but there was nothing to do. Crawford then hit a ball in the exact same spot as Arozarena had done minutes earlier, and the inning was over: the old fox had done the job. That is the point when Muñoz was called into the game, but unfortunately for Seattle, there was no lead to preserve. The best he could do was make sure that the Blue Jays did not add on any runs. He almost failed in his mission as Varsho and Clement, the first two batters he faced, both hit singles, but he got Barger to line to 1B Naylor who started an unassisted double play, and then Kiner-Falefa to ground out. It was now on to the 9th and Seattle's final opportunity, with Hoffman in to pitch. He got a full count on Rivas, but got him to swing at strike three for the first out; Dominic Canzone pinch hit for Robles, but he went down swinging as well. The final hope was Rodriguez, who had been Seattle's most dangerous hitter tonight, but he struck out as well, also on a full count. The game was over, the Blue Jays were moving on and Seattle had fallen agonizingly close to making it to the big dance for the first time in franchise history. Guerrero had been relatively quiet in this game (although his 1st inning single was a key hit), but after the first two games, he had been an unstoppable force at the bat, and he was named the series' MVP.