George Springer’s homer sends the Blue Jays to the World Series with a Game 7 victory over the Mariners

TORONTO – George Springer put Toronto ahead with three runs in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1993 by defeating the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 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 Game 1 on Friday night when the World Series comes to Canada for the third time. The defending champion Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS.

“The job is not over yet. We have four more left,” said Guerrero, the ALCS MVP.

Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez each hit a solo home run for Seattle in the team’s first postseason game 7, but the heartbroken Mariners blew a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning and are eight runs short of their World Series debut.

Seattle remains the only major league club without a pennant.

Addison Barger walked to start the seventh inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled on an 0-2 pitch and Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo was removed after No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez advanced runners with a sacrifice bunt.

Springer, the 2017 World Series MVP with Houston, greeted Edward Bazardo with his fourth homer of the season, a 381-foot drive to left field that sent the crowd of 44,770 into a throbbing frenzy.

“It’s a very fitting thing,” BlueJays manager John Schneider said. “At the bottom of our system it’s being done again. There’s probably no one else on planet Earth I’d want but George Springer and his October magic.”

It was the first go-ahead signal in Game 7 history when a team trailed by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later.

It was Springer’s 23rd homer of the postseason, tying Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for third. Manny Ramirez holds the league record with 29.

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

After losing the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home, the BlueJays rallied and took the next two games in Seattle. They dropped Game 5 before winning the final two games at home.

AL East champion Toronto went 54-27 at home in the regular season and 4-2 at home during the AL playoffs.

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

In his first relief appearance since Game 5 of the 2021 Division Series, Kevin Gausman pitched one inning of scoreless relief, working about three innings, to pick up the win for Toronto.

Fellow rookie Chris Bassett pitched a perfect eighth and Jeff Hoffman finished with his second save of the postseason.

Rodriguez opened the game with a double and scored on a single by Josh Naylor. Daulton Varsho tied the game with an RBI single from George Kirby in the bottom half before Rodríguez restored the lead for Seattle with a homer in the third inning.

Raleigh, who led the majors with 60 homers in the regular season, made it 3-1 with a leadoff homer against Louis Farland in the fifth.

Raleigh has 10 home runs in 15 career games at Rogers Center, three of them in the postseason. He also returned for Toronto for Game 1 of the 2022 Wild Card Series and Game 1 of this year’s ALCS.

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

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 were playing in a Game 7 for the first time since their home loss to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS.

Guerrero arrived on the court wearing a Maple Leafs hockey jersey bearing Auston Matthews’ name and number. The star forward is 0-6 in Game 7 with Toronto during his 10 seasons in the NHL.