Major League Baseball’s best comeback team in the regular season did it again to earn its first ever Game 7 victory in franchise history, and a trip to the World Series.
George Springer’s dramatic seventh inning three-run home run proved to be the difference in a 4-3 Toronto Blue Jays win over the Seattle Mariners.
It’s Toronto’s first American League Championship since 1993, the same year the Blue Jays won their second straight World Series.
“So happy for our team, our fans, our city, our country,” said Springer.
Every Blue Jays starter recorded at least a hit in the victory, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named series Most Valuable Player.
“The job’s not finished. We got four more to go,” Guerrero Jr. said in tears on the field after the game.
Guerrero Jr. hit .385 with a 1.330 OPS and struck out just two times in the ALCS.
Lost in the victory, a pair of starters pitching in relief for the Jays in Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt. Jeff Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth for the save.
Next up, Shohei Ohtani, Team Canada’s Freddie Freeman and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series beginning Friday night in Toronto.
The Blue Jays were 1-2 against the Dodgers in the regular season.
“We’ve got a group that believes we can beat anybody,” Jays Manager John Schneider said. “Now we get a shot at the champs. “It’s two of the best rosters in baseball, and both clubs are built for October.”
The Fall Classic will once again feature a 2-3-2 format with the first two games in Canada.
Here’s a look at the World Series schedule
Game 1: 8 p.m. ET Friday, Oct. 24 @ TOR
Game 2: 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 25 @ TOR
Game 3: 8 p.m. ET Monday, Oct. 27 @ LA
Game 4: 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 28 @ LA
Game 5*: 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 29 @ LA
Game 6*: 8 p.m. ET Friday, Oct. 31 @ TOR
Game 7*: 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 1 @ TOR
*indicates if necessary
All of the World Series games will be broadcast on Sportsnet in Canada and on Fox Sports in the United States.
Tickets to the World Series games at Rogers Centre are expected to go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
