Rousing Game 6 win has Blue Jays one win away from World Series return

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The noise was deafening from the start, and it's truly amazing that Rogers Center's aging roof remained in place after one of the most electric evenings the downtown stadium has ever seen.

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And with a convincing 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday night, the Blue Jays are one game away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 1993 and for just the third time in franchise history.

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The incredibly entertaining game played out in front of a crazy sold-out crowd of 44,764, energizing the home team, who welcomed the shock of returning from Seattle, where they needed two of three games to stay alive.

And now this exciting ALCS will play out like a sports dream scenario as Game 7 returns to Rogers Center on Monday night.

This will be only the second Game 7 the Jays have ever played, but it's loaded with incentive to continue this dream season in the Fall Classic against National League champion Los Angeles.

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“Gotta enjoy this, man,” said an emotional Jays manager John Schneider. “Any time you can play Game 7 to get to the World Series, it sounds awesome. It's special and unique.”

“This team and this group of people are special and you never know where it's going to go. It's pretty damn cool that we're where we are and now you have to keep your foot on the gas.”

Our Game 6 recap comes in the form of excerpts from an incredible—and incredibly loud—night of high-profile sports entertainment.

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NEWBY

Of course, 22-year-old Trey Yesavage didn't play his best, but the guy gave it his all, and a slick group of infielders backed him up with some accurate work.

The 2024 first-round draft pick, who was in the major leagues just 34 days, pitched 5.2 innings, the longest start of his young career. The only blemish of the fallout was a solo run homer to Mississauga's Josh Naylor with two outs in the sixth.

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But Yesavage immediately brought that amorous crowd to its feet, hitting an onside kick in the second, three of his seven on the night. And the incessant noise did not subside for the next three hours.

A riotous crowd stood and cheered his departure, the crowd highly appreciating the guy's work – three starts in the regular season and now three in the playoffs. The big right-hander had ice in his veins, even though the crowd was going crazy before he even pitched.

“It’s not how I had to deal with it, but how I could use it to my advantage,” Yesavage said afterward. “They encouraged me, made me want to go out and kick the kick.

“It was the most exciting, energetic crowd, and the team rallied around the fans. They were a huge motivation for us.

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DEFENSE SHINES

As noted, the Jays' glove was at its best since Yesavage, recording double plays in three straight innings.

Two of them—the third and fourth—were executed with the bases loaded, and both prevented the Mariners' runner from crossing the plate.

The effort made postseason history as the Mariners became the first team to start a bases-loaded double play in consecutive innings.

And yes, the home crowd roared their approval again. When the Jays hit another double play in the fifth, it was the first time the team had hit three in one postseason game.

The Jays' defensive performance couldn't have been much of a contrast to the Mariners, who committed three errors, all of them costly.

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For a team that was one win away from the franchise's first trip to the Fall Classic, the Mariners deserved what they got. Sloppy defense and failure to take advantage of Yesavage's hesitation made life much easier for the Jays.

VLAD SHOW

Vlad Guerrero Jr.'s march into playoff history continued as he scored his sixth playoff goal, a line drive to left field that cleared the wall faster than a heartbeat.

Guerrero, who has been a game-changer so far this October, tied the Jays' record shared with Joe Carter and Jose Bautista. It was fitting that Bautista was at a sold-out Rogers Center, where he celebrated his 45th birthday and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Remarkably for Guerrero, he recorded all of his homers in just two runs.

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Earlier in the playoffs, he set the Jays' record for most homers in a single playoff season with five.

Vlad's show continued with some fuss on the bases in the seventh as M's pitcher Matt Brush raced home on a wild pitch to extend the Jays' lead to 6-2.

OFFICE, JAYS STYLE

The Jays were opportunistic all night, taking advantage of the Mariners' mistakes and hitting at the right time.

Ernie Clement hit a triple off the top of the wall in left of third, which soon led to a run after the next batter, Addison Barger, hit a 403-foot homer to right-center.

This powerful combination gave the Jays a 4–0 lead, and despite the support of the fans, they never allowed the Mariners to trail by closer than three runs.

what a relief

The ongoing drama/concern surrounding the Jays' bullpen was nowhere to be seen under the noise of the dome that night.

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First up was Louis Warland, who allowed only a hit and one run (that was Yesavage's responsibility) in his 1.1 innings. The right-hander, acquired at the trade deadline, worked the crowd after he struck out the last batter he faced.

Then came the eighth game, where the problem from game five was not to be repeated. Manager John Schneider went with closer Jeff Hoffman, who quickly struck out Cal Raley, Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor—the meat of the Mariners' team—in a deadly 1-2-3 inning.

And what a sight it was as the crowd erupted as Hoffman also pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out four of the first five hitters he faced.

NEXT

The Jays will look to move forward by sending another deadline acquisition to the mound, Shane Bieber, for what feels like a Game 7 for the ages. The Mariners will face George Kirby.

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“It means everything,” Bieber said of the appointment, which awaits him after he missed more than a season recovering from Tommy John surgery. “I’m very happy about this opportunity. (It's) the culmination of a lot of events and hard work to get to this point, and a lot had to come together, especially the first six games of the series.

“Trey and the guys that had success (Sunday) to lead into (Monday). This game will be no different than any other game in this series. This is an opportunity for each of us to go out and do whatever it takes to win.”

The Jays, like their rowdy fans, are eagerly awaiting.

“It’s fun,” Schneider said near midnight. “I can't wait. I wish we could play right now.”

Let's.

COOL FIGURES

Monday's matchup will be the second Game 7 in franchise history. The only previous chance to do so was in the 1985 ALCS Finals, which ended in a 6–2 loss to the Royals.

The Jays are now 5-2 all-time in Game 6 and 3-1 in Game 6 of their postseason series at home.

Sunday's game was the first home Game 6 since Joe Carter hit a three-run homer to win the 1993 World Series.

Finally, adding 94 wins to the regular season, the Jays won 100 games for just the fourth time in franchise history (104 in 1992, 103 in 1993 and 102 in 1985).

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