The Toronto Blue Jays forced the 2025 American League Championship Series to a winner-take-all Game 7 with a 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 6 at Rogers Centre on Sunday.
Addison Barger and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the way offensively for Toronto. Barger went 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk, and three RBIs, while Guerrero continued his torrid postseason by homering and scoring two runs. Guerrero’s homer was the sixth of his postseason career, tying him with Joe Carter and José Bautista for the most in Blue Jays history.
Rookie Trey Yesavage struck out seven on six hits while allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman blanked the Mariners out of the bullpen to seal the victory.
Seattle played sloppy baseball for most of the evening. With a chance to win the franchise’s first-ever AL pennant, the Mariners committed three errors, including two in the second inning that led to a pair of Blue Jays runs. Cal Raleigh’s throwing error in the seventh allowed Toronto’s sixth run to score.
The Mariners had their share of chances early in the game, but came up empty offensively. Seattle loaded the bases in both the third and fourth innings but hit into inning-ending double plays both times – the first time that’s ever happened in playoff history, per Sportsnet Stats. Yesavage then induced a third ground-ball double play to end the fifth.
“I saw the ball was smoked over to Vladdy, so I knew I had to get my butt over there. I had no idea where the bag was,” Yesavage said about covering first base on the third-inning double play, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “I just thank the lord that he put me right on top of it.”
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert was hit hard, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over four-plus innings. He now owns a 7.71 ERA across seven-plus frames in this series.
First pitch of Game 7 goes Monday at 8:08 p.m. ET in Toronto. Shane Bieber is expected to start for the Blue Jays against Mariners right-hander George Kirby. The winner will advance to face the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said it would be “all hands on deck” in the bullpen behind Kirby, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Bryce Miller, who started Game 5 for Seattle, confirmed that he will be available in relief, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
Blue Jays skipper John Schneider also said every pitcher “on our active roster” will be ready to pitch, per Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy. This includes Hoffman, who threw 35 pitches Sunday.
This will be the first Game 7 in Mariners history, while the Blue Jays’ only Game 7 came in the 1985 ALCS, a game they lost to Kansas City at Exhibition Stadium.
Regardless of result, Monday’s game will see the end of a long drought for one of two starved franchises. The Mariners have never won a pennant, and are the only active team that’s yet to play in a World Series. Toronto, meanwhile, is searching for its first AL title since 1993.
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