Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his sixth home run of the postseason, rookie Trey Yesavage struck out seven in five and two-thirds innings, and Toronto Blue Jays clinched Game 7 of the American League Championship Series by defeating the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night.
The game will be decided Monday night in Toronto, the second Game 7 in Blue Jays history. Toronto lost to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS.
Seattle, the only major league team without a pennant, will play in Game 7 of the postseason for the first time. The winner will face the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, which begins Friday.
The Blue Jays hit three double plays behind Yesavage, two of them to avoid bases-loaded jams. This made Toronto the first team to hit consecutive bases-loaded, inning-ending double plays in a postseason game. They are just the fourth team to hit two goals in a single postseason game.
Toronto also capitalized on Seattle's season-best three mistakes. By comparison, the Blue Jays committed four errors in 10 playoff games.
Guerrero's sixth career homer in the postseason — all year — tied him with Jose Bautista and Joe Carter for the most in Blue Jays history. Bautista threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
Addison Barger scored a hit and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, who had lost their previous four games, facing postseason elimination. The streak lasted until Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS against Cleveland and included losses to Tampa Bay in 2020, Seattle in 2022 and Minnesota in 2023.
Guerrero's first homer in the fifth made it 5-0 and chased Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. The right-hander allowed five runs, four earned and seven hits in four innings.
Yesavage scored in the sixth. He was charged with two runs and six hits, five of which were singles. Five of his outs came on his split-fingered fastball, as did both landing double plays with the bases loaded.
22-year-old Yesavage threw a season-high 31 splitters. He got 10 whiffs on splitters and another five on sliders.
Three of Yesavage's six major league starts came in the playoffs. He has won twice in three starts this postseason after winning one of three regular-season appearances.
The Mariners used two walks and a single to load the bases against Yesavage in the third, but were denied when batter Cal Raleigh grounded into a 3-6-1 double play. Raleigh's first pitch landed at 101 mph.
Raleigh finished the game 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
Seattle came up empty again, getting another bases-loaded inning in the fourth when J.P. Crawford grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
The Mariners broke through and chased Yesavage in the sixth. Josh Naylor's solo shot was his third home run of the playoffs. Yesavage walked on Randy Arozarena's base hit, and Eugenio Suarez greeted Louis Warland with an RBI single.
Toronto took advantage of errors by Julio Rodriguez in center field and Suarez at third base to score twice in second when Barger and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa had RBI singles.
Ernie Clement hit a triple off the left field wall in the third to score when Barger scored, his second of the season.
George Springer started as the Blue Jays' designated hitter and went 0-for-4 with a walk. Springer left in the seventh inning of Friday's Game 5 loss in Seattle after Brian Wu hit him in the right kneecap at 95.6 mph.
Guerrero was hit by a pitch from Seattle pitcher Matt Brush in the seventh. Guerrero moved to second on Alejandro Kirk's single and was rapidly advancing when he scored on Raleigh's throwing error.
RHP Shane Bieber is expected to start in Toronto on Monday. Bieber allowed two runs and four hits over six innings in Game 3, a 13-4 Blue Jays win. He struck out eight and walked one, recovering from a poor performance against the Yankees in the Division Series.
Seattle RHP George Kirby, who allowed eight runs and eight hits, including three homers, over four innings in Game 3, lines up in the starting lineup for the Mariners.
