'An instant classic,' Blue Jays and Mariners ALCS had everything fans could hope for

A thrilling ALDS

Toronto and New York. It was just meant to be. The Blue Jays and the Yankees battled all season long for supremacy in the AL East. The Yankees, the franchise of 27 World championships, looked dangerous all series, but couldn't find the spark they truly needed and the Blue Jays disposed of them in four games, including the Game 4 clincher at Yankee Stadium.

The Mariners battled the Detroit Tigers to a winner-take-all Game 5 showdown in Seattle that went 15 innings before a winner was decided.

The pretext

The Mariners and the Blue Jays have two of the longest suffering fan bases in the sport. These two teams were expansion cousins in 1977 and since then, the Blue Jays have won the World Series twice in 1992 and '93 but haven't been back to the Fall Classic since. The Mariners have never even been crowned American League champions.

The Blue Jays go down 2-0

With home field advantage and a tired Mariners team coming into town, it looked like the Blue Jays had everything going their way. Unfortunately, the first two games were anything but that. Seattle beat the Blue Jays 3-1 in Game 1 when Mariners starter Bryce Miller baffled the Blue Jays bats. Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman was removed in the top of the sixth with the Blue Jays down 2-1, and reliver Brendon Little came in and immediately gave up another run foreshadowing an unfavorable trend in the series.

In Game 2 the Mariners jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but the Blue Jays battled back and tied the game by the bottom of the second. However, the Mariners got to Trey Yesavage and the bullpen in the fifth inning and piled on seven runs across the fifth, sixth and seventh including a home run from Mississauga, Ontario native Josh Naylor, who became the first Canadian to homer against the Blue Jays in a playoff game. The Mariners would take a 2-0 series lead with them back to Seattle.