Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – After 48 seasons of disappointment, the Seattle Mariners need only one victory to reach their first World Series, but the Toronto Blue Jays are determined to deny them. Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven American League Championship Series continues on Sunday in Toronto with the Mariners owning a 3-2 edge and the Blue Jays needing to win to force a winner-take-all Monday showdown.
The AL champion will face the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting Friday. The Mariners have never reached the World Series since they and the Blue Jays joined MLB in 1977 as expansion teams. Toronto won the World Series in 1992 and 1993. Seattle had reached the playoffs only once since 2001 until this season, when the Mariners ousted Detroit in the division series and won twice in Toronto before two home losses and a 5-1 home triumph over the Blue Jays on Friday put them on the brink of a historic spot in the championship final.
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“We still have a lot of work to do to get through and to get to the next step,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, who led MLB with 60 home runs this season, said the Mariners are prepared for the challenge in Canada. “We’re excited. If you can’t get up for these games, then you probably shouldn’t be here,” Raleigh said. “Our guys are up for the challenge and we have a tough road ahead of us. We just have to go in there, play our kind of game, be aggressive, do what we do, and try to stay in the moment, just really enjoy it and go out there and try to take care of business.”
Toronto designated hitter George Springer, who has 42 career playoff extra-base hits, left Friday’s game when he was hit in the right kneecap in the seventh inning by a pitch from Seattle’s Bryan Woo. “He has got a right knee contusion,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He had X-rays, which were negative, which is a good thing. George is about as tough as they come. I think he’ll have to really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday. We’ll see how he is.”
Springer has an extra-base hit in six consecutive playoff games, one shy of matching the all-time record shared by Devon White in 1993, Carlos Beltran in 2004, and Bryce Harper in 2022. Mariners fans booed Springer on Friday as he limped to first base, where he was replaced by pinch-runner Joey Loperfido. “I think the fans that were booing him should take a look in the mirror and understand what kind of player he is,” Schneider said.
– ‘We’ll be ready’ – Schneider said his team is ready to put the disappointment of losing game five behind them quickly. “I don’t want these guys to crawl into a hole. That’s not who we are,” Schneider said. “We’ll get after it on Sunday. We’ll be ready to play. We still have home field advantage. Our fans are going to be ready for us to get home on Sunday. I’ve said it all along. It’s a seven-game series. We’ve won two games in a row a whole lot this year. That’s what we expect to do starting on Sunday.”
Toronto pitching surrendered 13 runs in two prior home losses to the Mariners, but Schneider has confidence in his hurlers. “It just comes down to starters, relievers, everybody being ready for a situation and executing pitches,” he said. “So these guys will be ready to do it on Sunday.”
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