TORONTO – More than three decades after Joe Carter touched them all, George Springer gave the Toronto Blue Jays another home run for the ages, vaulting them into the World Series for the first time since they won their second consecutive championship in 1993.
Springer’s momentous, go-ahead three-run home run flipped Game 7 of this American League Championship Series in the Blue Jays’ favor, and they held on to defeat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in front of a Rogers Centre crowd that erupted like it hasn’t in years with one swing of the bat.
Game 1 of the World Series is Friday, Oct. 24, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers invading Toronto in a first-ever Fall Classic matchup. The Dodgers would’ve opened at home, were it not for a stunning pivot point in a winner-take-all game.
It came in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mariners leading 3-1 thanks to home runs from their superstar sluggers, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, and just eight outs away from the first World Series trip in franchise history.
Yet thanks in part to a decision that may follow manager Dan Wilson around for the remainder of his career, the Blue Jays salvaged their season just in time.
Wilson lifted ace Bryan Woo, who’d pitched two scoreless innings of relief but let the first two runners on in the seventh, in favor of right-hander Eduard Bazardo, who pitched two innings the night before in a losing Game 6 effort.
The move immediately backfired.
Thanks to a sacrifice bunt, Bazardo inherited a one-out situation with the tying runs in scoring position. Yet he’d be facing a diminished Springer, playing in the fifth Game 7 of his storied October career yet hobbled by a bum knee after Woo drilled him with a pitch there three nights earlier.
Bazardo had thrown 15 pitches the night before. Know who was fully rested?
Andres Muñoz, the Mariners’ two-time All-Star closer, who struck out 12 batters per nine innings this season and had two days’ rest.
And the Mariners really needed a strikeout.
Instead, Bazardo left a sinker in the middle of the plate, right in Springer’s happy zone. Springer swung, and his eyes got big. The crowd did not erupt, skeptical of the ball’s flight.
Yet as left fielder Randy Arozarena’s pursuit of the ball faded, a roar reached a crescendo, and the crowd of 44,770 erupted when the ball settled in the first row of the outfield seats.
Springer nearly stopped in his tracks in disbelief rounding first. The building shook. The Blue Jays led 4-3.
Meanwhile, Wilson’s counterpart John Schneider managed his own all-hands pitching meeting deftly. Ace Kevin Gausman pitched a scoreless sixth inning to record the win.
Chris Bassitt, a starter idled for bullpen work in these playoffs, pitched a perfect eighth, doubled over in emotion as he exulted inducing a J.P. Crawford ground ball for the last out.
Finally, closer Jeff Hoffman, who also worked two innings in Game 6, struck out the side in the ninth, setting off bedlam in this hockey town that goes crazy for its lads on the diamond when they’re going well.
The Mariners? They remain the franchise of legends, of Edgar and the Big Unit and Junior and Ichiro. This seemed the night their superstars finally converted their talent into October gold.
Instead, one false move did them in – and the World Series will be returning to Canada for the first time since Carter’s Series-ending shot against Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams in 1993.
Move over, Joe. Springer’s 23rd career postseason homer deserves your company.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is ALCS MVP
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALVS MVP after going 10-for-26 (.385) with three home runs and a 1.330 OPS in the seven-game series.
Toronto’s first baseman signed a 14-year, $500 million extension to stay with the Blue Jays earlier this year.
Here’s how ALCS Game 7 unfolded:
George Springer home run flips Game 7, puts Blue Jays in front
George Springer’s three-run homer off Eduard Bazardo sent Toronto into a frenzy, giving the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning of Game 7.
Springer’s 23rd career postseason home run ties him with Kyle Schwarber for third-most in MLB history.
Bryan Woo began the inning for Seattle but walked Addison Barger to lead off and gave up a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. A bunt got the runners to second and third with Bazardo coming on to replace Woo. With out out, Springer launched the go-ahead homer to left.
Bryan Woo in for Seattle, Mariners lead 3-1 through six
TORONTO – Bryan Woo won the finest mano-a-mano battle of the night, and the Mariners are nine outs away from their first World Series.
In his second inning of relief, Woo engaged Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a nine-pitch match, Guerrero fouling off three two-strike pitches, Woo never giving in.
Finally, Guerrero blinked.
He flailed at a 2-2 sweeper well outside the strike zone for the first out of the sixth inning, deflating Rogers Centre and rendering the Alejandro Kirk single that followed harmless.
It is 3-1 Mariners heading to the seventh – and ace Kevin Gausman is on in relief for the Blue Jays.
Cal Raleigh home run puts Mariners up 3-1
TORONTO – The superstars are showing out for the Mariners, who are starting to take command of this ALCS Game 7 as they seek the first World Series trip in franchise history.
Cal Raleigh rocketed a home run into his team’s bullpen in right field and the Mariners took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
So far, they’ve already won one moral victory: George Kirby pitched four virtually incident-free innings, keeping the Mariners bullpen idled until Bryan Woo relieved him in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Raleigh’s homer came off top Blue Jays set-up man Louis Varland, and Toronto will have to play uphill the rest of the way.
Shane Bieber removed: Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1
TORONTO – Shane Bieber committed the cardinal sin of walking the No. 9 batter, producing the first pitching change of ALCS Game 7.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider lifted Bieber with two outs in the top of the fourth, two men on and Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez – who doubled and homered in his first two at-bats – coming to the plate.
Wise move. Top set-up man Louis Varland induced a grounder to third and the Mariners stranded a pair of runners and cling to a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the fourth.
Bieber pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and two runs, striking out five and walking one.
Julio Rodriguez home runs puts Mariners back in front
TORONTO — Julio Rodriguez grimaced in pain after fouling a ball off his left leg. Then, he put a hurting on a Shane Bieber slider, driving it 109 mph into the left field seats for a home run to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead over the Blue Jays heading to the bottom of the third in ALCS Game 7.
Rodriguez limped around the batter’s box and was visited by Mariners manager Dan Wilson and a trainer before staying in the game. Six pitches later, he found a Shane Bieber slider to his liking and drove it 423 feet into the left field seats.
Mariners starter George Kirby has given up three hits through two innings, and neither club has had action in its bullpen in this winner-take-all game.
Crazy inning has ALCS Game 7 tied 1-1
TORONTO – If the first inning is any indication, it will be a loud, long and loony night for ALCS Game 7 at Rogers Centre.
Josh Naylor and Daulton Varsho exchanged RBI singles as the Mariners and Blue Jays were tied 1-1 after the first frame.
But that’s hardly the half of it.
The top of the first ended when Naylor leapt, turned and was struck by a throw from Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement, who was on the verge of completing a very routine double play – until it wasn’t. Naylor was originally ruled safe until umpires huddled and called interference – calling out Naylor and batter Jorge Polanco both.
Pitchers Shane Bieber and George Kirby both struggled, throwing 20 and 25 pitches, but avoided more trouble as Kirby left runners at the corners by getting Ernie Clement to fly to center.
Josh Naylor called for interference
TORONTO — On a potential double-play ground ball off the bat of Jorge Polanco in the top of the first, Josh Naylor left his feet and turned his head as Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement – who cut off shortstop Andrés Giménez to field the ball – threw to first to complete a 5-3 double play.
The ball ricocheted into foul ground and Polanco was originally called safe.
But after a conference among the six umpires, they umpires ruled interference and both runners were out.
Mariners take first-inning lead in Game 7
Julio Rodriguez hit a leadoff double against Shane Bieber and came around to score on Josh Naylor’s RBI single with one out, staking the Mariners to an early lead in Toronto.
Mariners lineup today: ALCS Game 7
Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
Cal Raleigh (S) C
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Jorge Polanco (S) DH
Randy Arozarena (R) LF
Eugenio Suárez (R) 3B
J.P. Crawford (L) SS
Leo Rivas (S) 2B
Victor Robles (R) RF
Blue Jays Game 7 lineup
George Springer (R) DH
Nathan Lukes (L) LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
Alejandro Kirk (R) C
Daulton Varsho (L) CF
Ernie Clement (R) 3B
Addison Barger (L) RF
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
Andrés Giménez (L) SS
George Springer injury update for ALCS Game 7
TORONTO – With a pair of home runs and a .960 OPS through six games, George Springer has stood tall in this American League Championship Series.
Except when he was down in the dirt, a 95-mph pitch from Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo drilling him directly in the right knee. Or, two nights later, when he came back for a game the Toronto Blue Jays had to win, took four plate appearances without incident, but then winced and hopped and grimaced through the searing pain in his fifth.
And now here he is, in a place so foreign to nearly every major leaguer but almost a second home for him: Game 7, the fifth in his career as he chases a second World Series title.
Said Springer: “This is what you want. I don’t think here’s anybody across the league that if you said in spring training, ‘Hey, you’re going to be in Game 7 of the ALCS,’ that you’re going to say, ‘Oh, man, no.’”
Mariners vs Blue Jays Game 7 predictions
Bob Nightengale: Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3
Gabe Lacques: Blue Jays 6, Mariners 4
Jesse Yomtov: Blue Jays 5, Mariners 1
Blue Jays championships: Toronto World Series wins
The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.
They defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games in 1992 for their first title and then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six to repeat, clinching on Joe Carter’s walk-off home run.
When does the World Series start?
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
*Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29
*Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31
*Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1
Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez embraces Game 7 pressure
Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez has two homers, five RBIs and five walks so far in the ALCS.
‘Tis is my first time being part of a Game 7, and they say in sports that there’s no better two words than that,’ Rodriguez said before Game 7.
‘We’ve got here by being who we are, by playing our baseball. I feel like that is something that you have to double down. There is no need to do more,’ Rodriguez told reporters.
‘I feel like everybody have been doing it the whole year, we’ve been playing baseball the whole year, preparing the whole year. And it came down to one game you just do one more of the same thing.’
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
