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

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners just showed why baseball is the best. The 2025 American League Championship Series went right down to the wire and ended in a dramatic winner-take-all Game 7 that won't soon be forgotten. As much as the final game will stand out and be relived in the memories of fans from both sides, this entire series had everything you could ask for from two teams who are starving for a championship.

There were timely hits, tremendous pitching, controversial plays, tons of second guessing about strategic moves and the big name stars put their stamp on a playoff series. The Blue Jays and the Mariners seasons mirrored each other in certain ways and it was very fitting that these two clubs ended the year in a one-run game that decided the American League championship.

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

A bleak outlook

The Blue Jays weren't even supposed to be here. Toronto was given just 43% odds (via FanGraphs preseason projections) to make the postseason, let alone win the AL East or the AL pennant.

The Mariners on the other hand were slight favorites to win the AL West, but many expected them to have to stare down two juggernauts in the 2022 World Series Champion Houston Astros and the 2023 World Series Champion Texas Rangers. Sure, the Mariners came in with the "best" odds, but at 56.1% compared to 56.4% and 53.5% of the Rangers and Astros respectively, you can see why there would be some skepticism.

A hot summer

The Blue Jays took over the AL East on July 3 and never looked back. While their lead in the division did place them in a dead heat with the New York Yankees going into the final weekend, the Blue Jays won four straight games against division rivals Boston and Tampa Bay to close out the year with the best record in the American League.

The Mariners were seven games back of the division in July, but turned up the heat and sprinted to the finish with an eight game winning streak in August, and a stretch of 17 wins in 18 games in September to win their division by three games.

The Blue Jays finished 94-68, their best finish in a decade while the Mariners were 90-72. Both teams earned first-round byes and had home field advantage to begin their postseason run.

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.

Blue Jays even the series

It was Toronto's turn to bring out the big bats as they exploded for 13 runs in Game 3 and got a terrific start out of Shane Bieber to pick up their first ALCS win since 2016. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 4-for-4, Andrés Giménez went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and the Blue Jays handedly took care of business.

Game 4 followed a similar pattern and in fact a sense of déjà vu loomed over the game as Giménez hit another two-run home run in the same inning as the previous night's game to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays were leading 5-1 in the fifth inning when Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer looked like he was perhaps tiring a little bit.

But when Manager John Schneider came out to talk to him, "Mad Max" simple told him, with a few choice words, that he was fine.

He was, and he finished with 6.2 innings under his belt with five strikeouts and led the Blue Jays to a series tying 8-2 win. The Blue Jays rode some fantastic defensive plays from Addison Barger and timely hits from the bottom of the lineup to lock down this game.

Blue Jays on the brink

The Blue Jays were on the verge of sweeping the Mariners in Seattle and heading home with a 3-2 series lead. But with a slim 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, Schneider brought Little out of the pen. The lefties first batter was MLB's 2025 home run king as Cal Raleigh stepped to plate.

Raleigh was a better hitter from the right side, although he hit more home runs from the left side. Regardless of the matchup, Raleigh smashed a 2-0 pitch from Little and tied the game.

Four batters later, Eugenio Suárez hit a grand slam and the Blue Jays went from being six outs away of having a 3-2 series lead, to facing elimination.

The rookie shoves

Trey Yesavage is 22-years-old and he has already been given the ball in some big time pressure situations since being called up by the Blue Jays in September. But none were bigger than this with Toronto needing a win to stay alive in the series.

Yesavage pitched 5.2 strong innings, striking out seven and allowing two runs on six hits. He left the game with the Blue Jays ahead 5-1, a lead they would not relinquish, while the Mariners shot themselves in the foot with several errors and miscues around the diamond. The series was tied 3-3.

An instant classic

The Blue Jays had never won a Game 7, with their only other attempt taking place in 1985 against the Kansas City Royals, a game the Blue Jays lost 6-2. The Mariners had never played in a Game 7 in their franchises history. Both teams got a run early, and there maybe could have been more for the Mariners, but a disputed call went the Blue Jays way to end the top of the first.

Naylor, who had just cashed in a run on an RBI single, was running from first to second on a routine double play grounder. As the throw from second was going to first, Naylor jumped and the ball hit him in the helmet. The umpires discussed the play and ruled that not only was Naylor out at second, he also caused interference and so Jorge Polanco, the hitter, was called out on the play as well.

The Mariners did all they could to make sure that wouldn't come back to haunt them as both Rodriguez and Raleigh hit solo home runs to increase the Mariners lead to 3-1. But in the bottom of the seventh, Springer hit the biggest dinger of the season, a three-run blast that put the Blue Jays ahead 4-3.

Toronto's pitching then shut the Mariners down over the final two innings, including Jeff Hoffman, their prized bullpen addition of the offseason, striking out the side to secure the pennant clinching save.

There is no doubt about it, the Mariners and Blue Jays played a seven game series that should be remembered as an absolute classic that was 48 years in the making.