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For the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the World Series.
And they can thank the man who won one for the chance.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with nobody out, George Springer stepped to the plate with the chance to tie a 3-1 ballgame in favor of the Seattle Mariners, a team desperate for its first-ever World Series appearance in franchise history.
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Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer (4) hits a three-run home run against the Seattle Mariners in the seventh inning during game seven of the ALCS round of the 2025 MLB playoffs at the Rogers Center on Oct. 20, 2025. (John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images)
Springer decided to do one better, sitting on a fastball from Eduard Bazardo and sending it over the left field fence to take a 4-3 lead. It was the swing needed for the Blue Jays to cement their American League pennant victory.
The Blue Jays will now face the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 7 WITH DECISIVE WIN OVER MARINERS
This was a series filled with theater right from the start, but the Blue Jays found themselves heading home 3-2 in the series needing two straight wins to be crowned pennant winners. They made it happen Sunday night when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger delivered a home run to force a win-or-go-home Game 7.
But Monday night didn’t start the way Toronto would have liked, as Josh Naylor put Seattle ahead early with an RBI single to score Julio Rodriguez. However, Daulton Varsho, who has been another Blue Jays hitter throughout the postseason, singled to center to score Springer to tie the game.
Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) hits a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning during game seven of the ALCS round of the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Center on Oct. 20, 2025. (Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images)
Then, in the top of the third inning, Rodriguez got the Mariners back on top, belting a solo home run to deep left-center field. And who else but Cal Raleigh, the AL MVP hopeful, came through when his team needed him with a solo home run of his own to make it a 3-1 ballgame in the top of the fifth inning.
With the Mariners’ pitching staff being one of the best in baseball all year, there were options for who to send out late in the game as it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Mariners manager Dan Wilson went with Bryan Woo after George Kirby gave him four innings and Woo gave him clean fifth and sixth innings.
But Woo opened the door with a walk to Barger to begin the seventh inning, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa sparked the Rogers Center with a single that left runners on first and second with nobody out. After Andres Gimenez moved them over with a sacrifice bunt, Bazardo came in to face Springer.
Springer came out on top.
Jeff Hoffman finished off the Mariners in the ninth inning, striking out all three batters, including Rodriguez, to start the celebration.
Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer (4) celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Seattle Mariners in the seventh inning during game seven of the ALCS round of the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Center on Oct. 20, 2025. (Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images)
The Blue Jays are hoping they can do what that team did in 1993, when the Toronto team secured back-to-back World Series titles that season.
