Springer’s homer sends Blue Jays into World Series with 4-3 win over Mariners in Game 7 of ALCS

By IAN HARRISON TORONTO AP George Springer put Toronto ahead with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays advanced to the World Series for the first time since by beating the Seattle Mariners - in Championship 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 Championship 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 s not finished We got four more to go noted Guerrero the ALCS MVP Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodr guez each hit a solo home run for Seattle in the group s first postseason Tournament but the heartbroken Mariners squandered a - lead in the seventh and fell eight outs short of their first World Series appearance Seattle remains the only major league club without a pennant Addison Barger walked to begin the seventh Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled on an - pitch and Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo was removed after No batter Andr s Gim nez advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt Springer the World Series MVP with Houston greeted Eduard Bazardo with his fourth homer of this postseason a -foot drive to left field that sent the sellout crowd of into a roaring pulsating frenzy It s so fitting Blue Jays manager John Schneider reported Bottom of our order gets it done again There s likely not another person on planet Earth that I want up other than George Springer and his October magic It was the first go-ahead homer in Championship history when a crew trailed by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later And it was the rd career postseason homer for Springer tying Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber for third place Manny Ram rez holds the major league record with So happy for our crew our fans our city our country Springer mentioned After losing the first two games in the best-of-seven series at home the Blue Jays rallied and took the next two in Seattle They dropped Match before winning the final two on home turf AL East champion Toronto went - at home in the regular season and - in its own ballpark during the AL playoffs I think it s an inspiration for million people in Canada from coast to coast to coast Blue Jays chairman Edward Rogers disclosed This is Canada s unit Making his first relief appearance since Match of the Division Series Kevin Gausman pitched one inning of scoreless relief working around three walks to earn the win for Toronto Fellow starter Chris Bassitt pitched a perfect eighth and Jeff Hoffman finished for his second save this postseason Rodr guez opened the encounter with a double and scored on a one-out single by Josh Naylor Daulton Varsho tied it with an RBI single off George Kirby in the bottom half before Rodr guez restored the lead for Seattle with a leadoff homer in the third Raleigh who led the majors with homers in the regular season made it - with a leadoff homer against Louis Varland in the fifth Raleigh has home runs in career games at Rogers Centre three of them in the postseason He also homered at Toronto in Competition of a Wild Card Series and Competition of this year s ALCS Naylor was called out to end the first after umpires ruled he interfered with Ernie Clement s relay to first base on a double play by jumping into the throw and deflecting it Kirby allowed one run and four hits in four innings He walked one and struck out three Toronto starter Shane Bieber permitted two runs and seven hits in innings He walked one and struck out five The Blue Jays were playing in a Championship for the first time since losing at home to Kansas City in the ALCS Guerrero arrived at the stadium wearing a Maple Leafs hockey jersey with Auston Matthews name and number The star forward is - in Championship s with Toronto during his seasons in the NHL AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb