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For the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the World Series.
And you can thank the man who won one for the opportunity.
At the bottom of the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with no one out, George Springer stepped up to the plate with a chance to tie a ball game 3-1 in favor of the Seattle Mariners, a team desperate for their first 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 American League Championship Series round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Center on October 20, 2025. (John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images)
Springer decided to do one better, sitting on an Eduard Bazardo fastball and launching it over the left field fence for a 4-3 lead. That was the swing necessary for the Blue Jays to cement their victory for the American League pennant.
The Blue Jays will now face the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 7 WITH CRUCIAL VICTORY OVER THE MARINERS
This was a series full of theatrics from the start, but the Blue Jays found themselves returning home trailing 3-2 in the series and needing two straight wins to be crowned pennant winners. They made it happen Sunday night, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger hit home runs 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 key hitter for the Blue Jays during the postseason, singled to center to score Springer and tie the game at one apiece.
Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez (44) hits a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning during game seven of the American League Championship Series round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Center on October 20, 2025. (Dan Hamilton/Image Images)
Then, in the top of the third inning, Rodriguez put the Mariners back on top, hitting a solo home run to deep left-center field. And who more than Cal Raleigh, the AL MVP contender, who came forward when his team needed him with a solo home run to make it a 3-1 game in the top of the fifth inning?
Since the Mariners’ pitching staff was one of the best in baseball all year, there were options on who to deploy late in the game considering it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Mariners manager Dan Wilson opted for Bryan Woo after George Kirby gave him four innings and Woo gave him clean fifth and sixth innings.
But Woo led the way with a walk to Barger to start the seventh inning, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa woke up Rogers Center with a single that left runners on first and second with no one out. After Andrés Giménez moved them with a sacrifice bunt, Bazardo came in to face Springer.
Springer emerged victorious.
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 while running the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Seattle Mariners in the seventh inning during game seven of the American League Championship Series round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Center on Oct. 20, 2025. (Dan Hamilton/Image Images)
The Blue Jays hope to do what that team did in 1993, when the Toronto team secured back-to-back World Series titles that season.
