Blue Jays 4-3 Mariners game summary (Oct. 20, 2025)

TORONTO (AP) — George Springer put to toronto ahead with a three run home run in the seventh inning and the Blue Jays they advanced to the World Series by first time since 1993 by beating the 4-3 Seattle Mariners in it seventh and decisive game of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays will host Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game on Friday night as the World Series comes to Canada for the third time. The defending champion Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

“The job is not done. We have four more left,” said Guerrero Jr., the American League Championship Series MVP.

Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez each hit a solo home run for the Mariners in the franchise’s first Game 7, but the distraught Mariners blew a 3-1 lead in the seventh and fell eight outs away from their first World Series appearance.

Seattle remains the only major league team without a pennant.

Addison Barger walked to start the seventh, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled on an 0-2 count and Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo was retired after ninth batter Andrés Giménez advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt.

Springer, the MVP of the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros, greeted Venezuelan Eduard Bazardo with his fourth home run of this postseason, a 381-foot blast to left field that made the crowd of 44,770 roar.

“It’s so fitting,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The bottom of our order does it again. There’s probably no other person on the planet I want at the plate more than George Springer and his October magic.”

It was the first go-ahead home run in the history of the deciding game when a team trailed by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later.

And it was the 23rd postseason home run of Springer’s career, tying him with Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber for third place. Manny Ramírez holds the major league record with 29.

“So happy for our team, our fans, our city, our country,” Springer said.

After losing the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home, the Blue Jays bounced back and won the next two in Seattle. They lost Game 5 before winning the last two at home.

American League East champion Toronto was 54-27 at home during the regular season and 4-2 at home in the American League playoffs.

“I think he’s an inspiration to 41 million people in Canada, from coast to coast to coast,” said Blue Jays president Edward Rogers. “This is Team Canada.”

Making his first appearance out of the bullpen since Game 5 of the 2021 Division Series, Kevin Gausman pitched a scoreless inning of relief, drawing three walks, to win the game for Toronto.

Fellow starter Chris Bassitt pitched a perfect eighth inning and Jeff Hoffman finished for his second save of this postseason.

Rodriguez led off the game with a double and scored on Josh Naylor’s one-out single. Daulton Varsho tied it with an RBI single against George Kirby in the bottom half before Rodriguez restored Seattle’s lead with a leadoff home run in the third inning.

Raleigh, who led the majors with 60 home runs in the regular season, made it 3-1 with a leadoff homer against Louis Varland in the fifth inning.

Raleigh has 10 home runs in 15 career games at Rogers Centre, three of them in the postseason. He also homered in Toronto in the first game of a 2022 Wild Card Series and the first game of this year’s American League Championship Series.

Naylor was called out to end the first inning after umpires ruled that he interfered with Ernie Clement’s relay to first base on a double play by jumping toward the pitch and deflecting it.

Kirby allowed one run and four hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Toronto starter Shane Bieber allowed two runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

The Blue Jays played a seventh game for the first time since losing at home to the Kansas City Royals in the 1985 American League Championship Series.

Guerrero Jr. arrived at the stadium wearing a Maple Leafs hockey jersey with Auston Matthews’ name and number. The star forward is 0-6 in seventh games with Toronto during his 10 NHL seasons.

The Blue Jays’ victory also took 64-year-old bench coach Don Mattingly to the World Series for the first time after a long baseball career. The former New York Yankees captain, six-time All-Star and 1985 American League MVP, managed the Dodgers from 2011 to 2015.

The Dodgers are in the World Series for the fifth time since 2017 and are seeking their third championship in six years. Toronto’s only appearances resulted in back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993.

The American League East champion Blue Jays have home-field advantage and will receive the first game because they finished the regular season with 94 wins, one more than the National League West champion Dodgers.