It took more than three decades, a rebuilt roster, and one perfectly timed swing from a proven postseason legend, but the Toronto Blue Jays are finally heading back to the World Series.
In front of a raucous sold-out Rogers Centre crowd on Monday night, George Springer delivered a moment that will live forever in Blue Jays lore; a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that lifted Toronto past the Seattle Mariners 4–3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
For the first time since Joe Carter’s iconic walk-off sealed the 1993 title, the Blue Jays will represent the American League in the Fall Classic. And once again, a veteran with championship pedigree was the difference.
Springer, who already owns a World Series MVP trophy from his Houston Astros days, came to the plate with runners on second and third, nobody out, and Toronto trailing 3–1. The Mariners were just nine outs from securing the franchise’s first-ever World Series berth. Eduard Bazardo, a hard-throwing right-hander called upon to escape the jam, tried to challenge Springer with a 95 mph fastball over the inner half.
He never got it back.
Springer turned on the pitch and launched it deep into the Toronto night, a no-doubt three-run homer that sent Rogers Centre into a frenzy and flipped the series on its head. The ball left his bat at 106 mph and traveled 414 feet over the left-field wall—a Statcast-confirmed missile that changed the trajectory of two franchises.
“I just wanted to keep it simple, get something up and put a good swing on it,” Springer told reporters postgame. “Moments like that—those are why we play this game.”
That swing sealed a 4–3 victory and capped one of the most dramatic ALCS finishes in recent memory. The Blue Jays will now face the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
This series had everything: clutch pitching, late-game heroics, and two fan bases desperate to exorcise October demons. Seattle, who had battled back from an 0–2 hole to take a 3–2 series lead, entered Game 7 with momentum and belief. Toronto, meanwhile, faced elimination twice and fought back with pure resilience—led by their cornerstone talent, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and a bullpen that found its rhythm when it mattered most.
Game 7 didn’t start in Toronto’s favor. Josh Naylor opened the scoring for Seattle in the first inning with an RBI single that plated Julio Rodríguez. Toronto responded immediately in the bottom half, when Daulton Varsho continued his torrid postseason with a sharp RBI single to score Springer and tie the game at one apiece.
In the top of the third, Rodríguez showcased the power that’s made him one of baseball’s brightest young stars, blasting a solo homer to deep left-center to give Seattle a 2–1 lead. Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ heart-and-soul backstop and AL MVP candidate, added to that cushion with a solo homer of his own in the fifth. At 3–1, the Mariners seemed poised to punch their long-awaited ticket to the World Series.
Seattle’s pitching staff, one of MLB’s best all season with a collective 3.61 ERA, was set up well for a bullpen chess match. George Kirby, the young ace, gave Wilson four solid innings, scattering five hits and one run before handing the ball to Bryan Woo, who delivered clean fifth and sixth frames. But everything unraveled in the seventh.
Woo walked leadoff hitter Addison Barger, then surrendered a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa that electrified the Toronto crowd. When Andrés Giménez laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, Seattle skipper Dan Wilson summoned Bazardo.
One pitch later, the roof nearly blew off Rogers Centre.
After Springer’s go-ahead homer, Toronto’s bullpen slammed the door. Chad Green set the table in the eighth, and Jeff Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth—including Rodríguez swinging through a high fastball to end it as gloves flew skyward and champagne corks popped in the clubhouse.
Guerrero Jr. was named ALCS MVP after hitting .385 (10-for-26) with three home runs, three doubles, and seven RBIs in the series, continuing his evolution from prodigy to October cornerstone.
“It’s been 32 years since this city felt this,” Guerrero said afterward. “We’ve been building for this moment, and now we get to play for it all.”
For the Mariners, it was another painful step short of history. Despite one of the league’s deepest rotations, a balanced lineup, and a fan base desperate to see them break through, Seattle remains the only MLB franchise never to appear in a World Series.
Still, their 2025 run reestablished them as a legitimate contender in the American League, and with Rodríguez, Raleigh, and a young pitching core returning, they’ll likely be back in October again soon.
As for Toronto, their story continues. A franchise that’s spent years developing its young core—Guerrero, Bichette, Varsho, and Barger; now has the chance to bring home a title to the city that’s waited since the early ’90s.
From Carter’s blast in ’93 to Springer’s in ’25, the echoes of October greatness have officially returned to the Rogers Centre. And if this postseason has proven anything, it’s that George Springer still knows how to deliver when the lights burn brightest.