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When Shohei Ohtani hit the 50-50 milestone last season in Miami, many thought it was one of the greatest single performances in baseball history. Little did they know, Ohtani would go on to deliver an even more impressive feat in a series-clinching game that sent his Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series, just one year after winning the Commissionerâ€s Trophy.

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On this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman break down what might be the most impressive game ever played in baseball, in which Ohtani pitched six shutout innings, struck out ten, allowed zero earned runs, and hit three home runs en route to the Dodgers clinching the National League pennant. Then the guys talk about the Milwaukee Brewers†unfortunate showing against a juggernaut like the Dodgers.

Also in this episode, Jake and Jordan preview the upcoming Game 7 that will decide the ALCS between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. Will the Jays ride the hot bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to their first World Series since 1993 or can the Mâ€s win their first-ever American League title and finally reach the Fall Classic? The show wraps up with a discussion about College World Series champion manager Tony Vitello possibly joining the San Francisco Giants next season.

Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images

(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

1:55 – The Opener: Ohtaniâ€s amazing game

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14:45 – Dodgers win the NL pennant

22:51 – Where we stand in the ALCS

38:39 – Game 7 preview

43:52 – We Need to Talk About: Tony V to MLB?

🖥ï¸Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at or atyahoosports.tv

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They will now play in their first Game 7 in franchise history, right back here at Rogers Centre on Monday night.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing,†Julio Rodríguez said. “The baseball gods wanted us to be here, and I feel like everybody’s really excited for tomorrow.â€

This will be the Mariners†fourth winner-take-all game in franchise history, and despite that limited history, they have fared favorably when facing these stakes before — including earlier this October. The Mariners are 3-0 in winner-take-all games, with victories in Game 5 of the AL Division Series in 1995, 2001 and 2025, when they triumphed over the Tigers in a 15-inning marathon.

“It’s a great opportunity,†Cal Raleigh said. “And obviously, we’ll flush this one. We’ve been here before, in the round before. So weâ€ll try to take that to our advantage and come out ready to go.â€

It was never going to be easy to reach the pinnacle. And maybe the extra stress of an anything-can-happen game is fitting for the only franchise that has never played in the Fall Classic.

Seattle becomes just the eighth team to play both a five-game LDS and seven-game LCS in the same year — joining the 2020 Rays, 2017 Yankees, 2012 Giants, 2012 Cardinals, 2004 Astros, 2003 Red Sox and 2003 Cubs. Of those teams, only the 2020 Rays and 2012 Giants went on to advance to the World Series, and San Francisco was the only to win the whole thing.

“I think everyone does a great job of showing up the next day ready to go, and we’re very prepared,†first baseman Josh Naylor said. “Whatever happens the previous day, we wash it and get going the next day. And so it’s all about winning on that current day. So I’m really excited for tomorrow. I think we all are.â€

With their season on the line, the Mariners will turn to George Kirby against Torontoâ€s Shane Bieber in what is a Game 3 rematch. But just about everyone on Seattleâ€s pitching staff will be available, including starters Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller, both of whom said after Game 6 that they anticipate pitching in Game 7.

Woo made his playoff debut when pitching the sixth and seventh innings in Seattleâ€s Game 5 win and will likely be on an abbreviated workload, given that it was his first outing since exiting a Sept. 19 start with pectoral inflammation. Miller started that game on Friday but only threw 56 pitches over four-plus innings. He also started Seattleâ€s Game 1 win, and on short rest in what was maybe their best outing of these playoffs.

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation,†Raleigh said. “So everybody will be excited and ready to go for that challenge. It’s just about going out there, controlling your emotions and trying to control those at-bats and those pitches, one by one.â€

As for Kirby, the Mariners have avoided using him on the road all October, as each of his three starts have come at T-Mobile Park — including an eight-run showing in a 13-4 loss in Game 3. He has a 5.16 ERA on the road this season compared to a 4.02 ERA at home. But heâ€s their only option at this stage.

“He’s the guy that we want in that situation and he’s thrown the ball well, and it’s his spot,†Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “George will be the starter, and we expect to have an all-hands-on-deck down there in the bullpen and ready to go at any point.â€

Added Kirby: “I love pitching under pressure and am super glad I’m able to get Game 7.â€

Aside from Kirby, Miller and Woo, the Mariners avoided using Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz in Game 6, putting them on two days†rest entering this finale.

Beyond the need for stout pitching against a Blue Jays lineup thatâ€s been the primary catalyst as theyâ€ve won three of these past four games, the Mariners would greatly benefit from striking early at the plate themselves. In a raucous road environment, doing so could take the crowd out of it — because Torontoâ€s fans are just as eager, as they havenâ€t seen a World Series since 1993. And this is just their second Game 7 in franchise history — they lost their first, to the Kansas City Royals in the 1985 ALCS.

That said, the Mariners have scored first in nine of their 11 playoff games and are 6-5.

“We’re going to a Game 7 for the American League for a reason,†Rodríguez said. “They’re a really good ballclub, and they’re playing really good baseball, too.â€

Pressure was always going to elevate as Seattle advanced in these playoffs, compounded by expectations for a talented roster and a fanbase thatâ€s been starved for this stage.

“All of that is just fuel,†Rodríguez said. “It’s something that we’re walking through very rare territory, but that’s just exciting, I feel like. There is always pressure when you’re doing great things. I just feel like it is just things that come with it. Youâ€ve got to learn how to manage it and how to acknowledge it, too.

“Because you cannot say there is not pressure right now or that there is not the expectation in the big moments to be able to deliver a win. You cannot just say that, playing where we are and knowing the history of the team.â€

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TORONTO — Look dad, Game 7!

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his sixth home run this postseason, rookie Trey Yesavage struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays pushed the American League Championship Series to the limit by beating the sloppy Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night.

The AL pennant will be decided Monday night in Toronto, the second Game 7 in Blue Jays history. Toronto lost to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS.

“Got to enjoy it, man. This is what we sign up for,†Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Itâ€s special and unique, but you have to look at it as a game.â€

For one famous baseball family, it will also be a first. Guerreroâ€s father, Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, never played in a postseason Game 7 during his 16-year career.

“My dad was telling me, Game 7 is give it all you have,†the Toronto slugger said.

Seattle, the only big league team without a pennant, will play a Game 7 for the first time. The winner faces the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series beginning Friday.

“Win or go home,†Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez said. “Weâ€re going to lay everything out there.â€

Addison Barger homered and drove in three early runs for the Blue Jays, who turned three double plays behind Yesavage — two of them to escape bases-loaded jams.

That made Toronto the first team to induce consecutive bases-loaded, inning-ending double plays in a postseason game, and only the fourth team to turn two in a single postseason game.

“I knew my defense had my back,†Yesavage said.

Toronto also took advantage of Seattleâ€s season-high three errors. By comparison, the Blue Jays have made four errors in 10 playoff games.

“Balls just kind of in and out of the glove there that put a couple extra guys on base,†Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Unfortunately, it led to a couple runs.â€

Guerreroâ€s sixth career postseason homer — all this year — tied him with José Bautista and Joe Carter for the most in Blue Jays history.

“This is what you look for from one of the elite players in the game,†Schneider said.

Bautista threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

Toronto had lost its previous four games when facing postseason elimination. That streak stretched to Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS against Cleveland and included wild-card round losses to Tampa Bay in 2020, Seattle in 2022 and Minnesota in 2023.

Guerreroâ€s leadoff homer in the fifth made it 5-0 and chased Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. The right-hander allowed four earned runs and seven hits in four-plus innings.

“I thought he had a good fastball, especially early,†Wilson said. “His split was good at times. This is a tough lineup and they did what they had to do to get the ball in play.â€

Yesavage took a shutout into the sixth. He was charged with two runs and six hits, five of them singles. Five of his strikeouts came on his split-finger fastball, as did both double-play grounders with the bases loaded.

“I just believed in myself. I know my stuff plays at this level,†Yesavage said. “I know the defense behind me is going to play at the best of their abilities, and getting three double plays in back-to-back-to-back innings was huge.â€

The 22-year-old Yesavage threw a season-high 31 splitters. He got 10 whiffs on splitters and five more on sliders.

“He brings the energy,†Guerrero said. “Heâ€s young. He wants to win so bad.â€

Three of Yesavageâ€s six major league starts have come in the playoffs. Heâ€s won twice this postseason after winning one of three outings during the regular season.

Louis Varland got four outs and Jeff Hoffman struck out four over two hitless innings to end it.

The Mariners used two walks and a single to load the bases against Yesavage in the third but were denied when slugger Cal Raleigh grounded into a 3-6-1 double play started by Guerrero and completed by Yesavage covering first base. Raleighâ€s first-pitch grounder came off his bat at 101 mph.

“Underappreciated, I think, is how Vlad can play really deep because of his arm,†Schneider said. “In that situation, too, you need some wiggle room for a guy that hits the ball really hard.â€

Raleigh finished 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Seattle came up empty again after another bases-loaded opportunity 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 Naylorâ€s solo shot was his third home run of the playoffs. Yesavage exited after Randy Arozarenaâ€s base hit, and Eugenio Suárez greeted Varland with a bloop RBI single.

Toronto took advantage of fielding errors by Rodríguez in center field and Suárez at third base to score twice in the second, when Barger and Isiah Kiner-Falefa had RBI singles.

Ernie Clement hit a two-out triple off the left-field wall in the third and scored when Barger homered, his second of the postseason.

George Springer started at designated hitter for the Blue Jays and went 0 for 4 with a walk. Springer exited in the seventh inning of Fridayâ€s Game 5 loss in Seattle after he was hit on the right kneecap by a 95.6 mph pitch from Bryan Woo.

Guerrero was hit by a pitch from Seattle reliever Matt Brash in the seventh. Guerrero moved to second on Alejandro Kirkâ€s single and was advancing on a wild pitch when he scored on Raleighâ€s throwing error.

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Toronto is expected to start RHP Shane Bieber on Monday night. Bieber allowed two runs and four hits over six innings in Game 3, a 13-4 win for the Blue Jays. He struck out eight and walked one as he bounced back from a poor outing against the Yankees in the Division Series.

RHP George Kirby will start for Seattle. He allowed eight runs and eight hits, including three homers, over four innings in Game 3.

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TORONTO — We knew the path to the promised land was always going to include a heavy dose of sky-high anxiety, right?

This is the Mariners, after all, the only organization to have never played in the World Series. If you were hoping for peaceful closure to this American League Championship Series on Sunday, youâ€re going to have to hang in for another night.

And after a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS, Seattle faces elimination for just the second time in these playoffs — with a winner-take-all Game 7 slated for Monday night, right back here at Rogers Centre.

Win, and they advance to play the Dodgers in the Fall Classic, beginning on Friday in Los Angeles. Lose, and this storybook season comes to a stunning end, compounded by what would be one of the franchiseâ€s more stinging finishes, given that they had series leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

“This game is very psychological over physical,†said first baseman Josh Naylor, who put the Mariners on the board with a solo homer in the sixth when they were down 5-0. “I think if you could beat someone down mentally, you’ll beat them physically right away.

“It’s sort of like boxing. I love watching boxing. Me and my dad watch boxing together all the time, and the great boxers beat someone down mentally, and then physically, it becomes one punch and you’re done.â€

What made Sundayâ€s loss more frustrating for Mariners fans who made the 2,500-mile trek to Toronto and the hundreds of thousands who watched back home in Seattle was that it featured one spoiled opportunity after another.

The Mariners on Sunday became the first team with three or more errors while grounding into three or more double plays in a playoff game since the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2009 ALCS.

Seattle twice had the bases loaded in the early going and twice hit into an inning-ending double play — in both the third and fourth innings — with precisely the players it would want up in those spots.

Cal Raleigh, whoâ€s tormented Toronto for his entire career, chopped a first-pitch splitter from Trey Yesavage that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielded to go 3-6-1. Then an inning later, J.P. Crawford — who has a 1.104 OPS in his Mariners career with the bases loaded — was on the hook for a 4-6-3, when rolling over an 0-2 splitter off the plate. Julio Rodríguez made it a hat trick in the fifth with another double play, though the Mariners only had one runner on then.

Per Elias, the Mariners are the third team over the last 10 years to ground into a double play in three straight innings during a postseason game, joining the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 NLCS and the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2024 ALCS. Those Yankees and the 1987 Giants (Game 7 of NLCS) are the only two teams since 1940 to do this during a potential series-clinching game.

“I thought I hit my ball hard,†Raleigh said. “Obviously, I’ve got to get it in the air, so no excuses there. J.P. is battling with two strikes. It’s just one of those things that it’s baseball. We were fighting up there, giving everything we could, and hit it right at guys.â€

Overall, the Mariners have been able to create traffic, but theyâ€ve struggled mightily to cash in since this series shifted to Seattle. Even including Eugenio Suárezâ€s incredible, game-winning grand slam in Game 5, the Mariners are just 6-for-40 (.150) with runners on base since Game 3.

“I think we did a good job of putting some pressure on at times, and sometimes you’re not going to come through,†Naylor said. “And that is what it is. It’s baseball. You can prepare as well as you can. You can feel the best you can. But sometimes, it’s just not going to go your way. And that is what it is. But I feel like we did have a lot of chances, and tomorrow we’ll come through with them.â€

Then there were the three errors, all of which directly led to Blue Jays runs.

Rodríguez bobbled a one-hopper in front of him in the left-center gap that turned a single into two bases for Daulton Varsho, who went on to score from second base easily on an RBI single into right field from Addison Barger in the second inning.

In that same inning, Suárez had trouble corralling a scorching grounder from speedster Ernie Clement, who reached to put two on with nobody out. Clement then scored from third base when Suárez attempted to barehand a slow roller but came up empty on the grab.

Then in the seventh, a wild pitch from Matt Brash with Guerrero on second base forced a rushed throw from Raleigh that sailed into left field and allowed Torontoâ€s all-world slugger to score easily. Guerrero also had a booming solo homer to lead off the fifth inning and end Logan Gilbertâ€s night.

“We could have played a maybe cleaner game,†Rodríguez said. “We definitely set the table a few times, but we couldn’t capitalize. And that’s part of the game, too. But they definitely played a good game. They put up some good swings.â€

Gilbert was tagged for five runs (four earned) and paid mightily for the mistake pitches he left over the plate, saying that the loss was “on me.†But that doesnâ€t quite paint the entire picture, because had a few at-bats gone the other way or multiple mistakes not been made, the Mariners mightâ€ve found themselves right back in it.

But they instead face a Game 7, where they still control their own destiny but also face the reality that anything can happen.

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-2 at home to force a decisive Game 7 in the American League Championship Series.

Vladdy launched his sixth home run of the postseason, setting the Blue Jays’ franchise record for the most in a single playoff run.

Guerrero Jr. went 2-of-4 at the plate with a single home run. Addison Barger added in three RBIs on 2-for-3 hitting with a home run. Isiah Kiner-Falefa finished with a RBI.

Blue Jays ace Trey Yesavage set the tone early with a commanding performance on the mound, striking out seven over 5.2 innings while allowing just six hits and two earned runs.Â

MLB fans were thrilled as Vladdy and the Blue Jays forced an ALCS Game 7.Â

The Blue Jays refused to go home on Sunday, jumping out to a dominant start while holding Seattle to two straight three-up, three-down innings.

Barger hit a RBI double to bring in Daulton Varsho for the game’s first run in the second inning, followed by Kiner-Falefa reaching on an infield single to score Ernie Clement.

With a 2-0 lead entering the third, Barger launched a two-run homer to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 advantage. Guerrero Jr. added to the lead in the fifth with a solo home run.

Seattle responded in the fifth, plating two runs before Guerrero Jr. scored on a throwing error by Cal Raleigh to extend Toronto’s lead to 6-2.

With one last chance in the top of the ninth, the Mariners couldn’t rally, and the Blue Jays held on for the win to force Game 7.

The Blue Jays lost the first two games of the ALCS at home but responded by taking the next two on the road to even the series.

Seattle pulled back ahead with a home win before the matchup returned to Toronto for the final two games, where the Blue Jays fought back once more to tie the series 3-3 on Sunday.

While the Mariners and Blue Jays continue their battle in the American League, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been waiting to see who they will face in the World Series after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday, Oct. 17.

The winner-take-all Game 7 of the ALCS will remain in Toronto, with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.

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TORONTO — Trey Yesavage just put up his first triple-double in the big leagues.

Three innings, three escapes with double plays. Yesavage came into his Game 6 start in the American League Championship Series on Sunday without forcing a double play in his big league career, and heâ€d forced just two hitters to ground into double plays over 98 innings in the Minors.

What timing to learn a new trick.

Yesavage struck out seven Mariners over his 5 2/3 innings, holding Seattle to two runs, but this is the first Yesavage start weâ€ll remember for a play he was part of defensively.

Yesavage pulled these double plays off to end the third, fourth and fifth innings, but the double play to end the third might have been the defining moment of the game, perfectly capturing the 2025 Blue Jays in one well-timed flurry.

With the bases loaded and Cal Raleigh at the plate, Yesavage was staring down the barrel of a worst-case scenario. Raleighâ€s home run in Game 5 in Seattle on Sunday kickstarted the Mariners†comeback and the Blue Jays†implosion, and fresh off a 60-homer season, Raleigh could have flipped the game in an instant and ended Torontoâ€s season. Instead, he hit a ground ball to first base, and it all began.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made the scoop moving toward second base and, while still running, fired a strike to Andrés Giménez. This might be Guerreroâ€s most underrated skill, his incredible ability to make throws from first base, especially to kickstart double plays. Giménez, the Blue Jays†big offseason addition and big bet on more elite defense, made the perfect throw back to first, and it was Yesavage whoâ€d scampered over just in time. From the face of the franchise to the defensive specialist to the rookie sensation, what a moment.

According to Elias, since 1940 only three other teams had hit into an inning-ending double play in three straight innings in a postseason game. Yesavage just forced the Mariners to sit at a table with the Padres in the 2005 NL Division Series, the Reds in the 1995 NLCS and the Mets in the 1973 World Series. All of this from a pitcher whoâ€s known for everything but forcing ground balls.

Yesavage had been handling business the old-fashioned way prior to that, striking out the side in the second inning. Unlike last time out against the Mariners in Game 2, he was leaning more heavily on his incredible splitter, which creates such a great sense of deception when it plays off his fastball. Yesavage got away from that the first time he faced Seattle, instead turning to his slider, but he was back to the best version of himself in the early innings.

Yesavage is already one of the best stories of the season for the Blue Jays, and performances like these are putting him in a small group of postseason stars in this organizationâ€s history. If weâ€re still watching highlights of this run years from now, weâ€ll be seeing his first double play in the big leagues over and over again.

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SEATTLE — Did you really think George Springer would miss this game? No chance.

When John Schneider texted Springer on Sunday morning ahead of Game 6, Springer told his manager to stop asking. When Schneider approached Springer in the clubhouse after he arrived at Rogers Centre, Springer told him to beat it. Respectfully, of course, but there was no conversation left to have.

If Springer could walk, he was playing, and heâ€s back in the lineup for Game 6 of the ALCS, batting leadoff.

Springer took a 96 mph fastball off his right kneecap from Seattleâ€s Bryan Woo in Game 5, and in the moment, it looked more serious than the “right knee contusion†Springer has escaped with. Springer underwent an X-ray in Seattle, and he then went straight for a CT scan after the Blue Jays landed back in Toronto near 3:30 a.m. ET.

“He was in good spirits yesterday, I think just getting some reassurance with the CT scan coming back [negative],†Schneider said. “It was going to take a whole lot more, I think, to keep him out of the lineup. So he was feeling better yesterday, feeling better today.â€

Springer is a necessary piece of this team, fresh off a renaissance season in which he hit a career-high .309 with 32 home runs and a .959 OPS. Heâ€s set the tone for the Blue Jays on the bases, too, inventing the new position of “OPâ€, which means “offensive player.†Being a DH involves running the bases, too, Springer believes, so youâ€ll see OP, not DH, next to his name in the lineup that hangs in the Blue Jays†clubhouse.

These are the types of games the Blue Jays brought Springer to Toronto to have a moment in, too. The 2017 World Series MVP came to Toronto with a reputation as one of the best postseason players in Major League Baseball. Even though itâ€s taken this organization a while to get Springer close to the World Series again, heâ€s got one more shot, and itâ€s going to take more than a heater to the knee to make him miss this.

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Harry Maguire’s late header secured a 2-1 win for Manchester United over Liverpool on Sunday, giving them their first victory at Anfield in almost a decade and giving coach Ruben Amorim back-to-back league victories for the first time in his tenure.

The result heaps more misery on a Liverpool side that has now lost their past four games in all competitions.

The visitors’ efforts to secure the win appeared to be denied following Cody Gakpo’s 78th-minute equalizer, but center back Maguire became the latest player to expose Liverpool’s weakness on set pieces with a powerful header.

Harry Maguire handed Man United all three points at Liverpool.

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images

United had ridden their luck after Bryan Mbeumo scored the quickest Premier League goal on this ground between the two sides — just 62 seconds in — while Gakpo hit the frame of the goal three times. The Dutchman’s most glaring miss came with three minutes to go when he planted a close-range header wide of an open goal.

While United, now only two points behind their archrivals, will feel they have turned a corner with possibly the standout result of Amorim’s tenure, Arne Slot is left to consider what has gone wrong with his misfiring side.

Liverpool lost a fourth successive match for the first time since November 2014 and their first home league game in 400 days.

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  David SchoenfieldOct 19, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Covers MLB for ESPN.com
  • Former deputy editor of Page 2
  • Been with ESPN.com since 1995

Are we having fun yet? Friday was one of the most unforgettable days ever seen in the playoffs, with Eugenio Suarez’s go-ahead grand slam rocking T-Mobile Park and putting the Seattle Mariners one win away from the World Series, and then Shohei Ohtani’s historic three-homer, 10-strikeout performance that goes down as perhaps the single greatest individual performance in postseason history.

Let’s call it a top-five day of all time and add this to our list of future projects to research. Meanwhile, with Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, we’re left with one game Sunday: The Seattle Mariners vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, Game 6 of the ALCS.

Let’s dig into it with some of the keys to watch with the remaining World Series spot at stake.

Guerrero is having a monster postseason, hitting .457/.524/.971 with five home runs. After a hitless first two games of the ALCS, he did his best Roy Hobbs impersonation in Seattle, going 7-for-11 with five extra-base hits. He has just two strikeouts in 42 postseason plate appearances, and he has had 15 balls in play register over 100 mph, including six of his seven hits at T-Mobile.

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“He’s a special player, a special talent, an awesome guy to be around,” teammate Ernie Clement said. “He’s earned every bit of success that he’s having, and I couldn’t be happier for him. Just really proud of the work he’s put in. To do it on the biggest stages, it’s a testament to his work.”

In Game 5, the Mariners intentionally walked Guerrero twice, once in the fourth inning with nobody out and a runner on second base — his second intentional walk of the postseason with nobody out, the first time that has happened since 2016 — and then in the seventh with two outs and a runner on second.

The Mariners escaped both jams, but they’re playing with fire — and that’s whether they pitch to him or whether they put him on. It’s certainly not an easy decision for manager Dan Wilson with Guerrero so locked in, but eventually one of those intentional walks is going to backfire and potentially lead to a big inning.

Toronto’s challenge: Getting Cal Raleigh out

Raleigh is following up his historic 60-homer season with an outstanding postseason of his own, hitting .333/.435/.692 with four home runs, the one Mariner who has provided consistent offense. Suarez’s slam was the moment for the history books in Game 5, but that moment might never happen if Raleigh doesn’t first tie the game leading off the eighth inning with his towering home run to left that looked high enough to soar over the Space Needle.

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“Oh my god, that ball took forever to get down,” said teammate Bryan Woo. “I can’t say that I’m surprised anymore, but he just continues to impress and show up in big moments.”

The Blue Jays have mostly gone right after Raleigh, who has drawn three walks in five games, one of those intentional. That included the game-tying home run when Brendon Little fell behind 2-0 but came in with a fastball — a little too much down the middle.

“A lot of times I get out there and just start swinging and try to hit something hard,” Raleigh said, “but I was patient waiting for my pitch there and understanding to let the game come to me, try and make solid contact, don’t need a home run, don’t need to try to hit a ball 500 feet, just do something good and adrenaline will usually take over in those moments.”

Toronto’s potential secret hero: Ernie Clement

Following the Blue Jays’ win in Game 3, Clement called himself “probably the worst hitter in baseball” a couple years ago. He was referring to 2022, when he hit .184/.243/.209 in 179 plate appearances with the Guardians and Athletics — which led to the Guardians letting him go, and then the A’s, with the Blue Jays claiming him on waivers during spring training in 2023.

The one-time worst hitter in baseball played 157 games this season, had his best season at the plate with a .277/.313/.398 line and 46 extra-base hits, and is a Gold Glove finalist at two positions — third base (where he started 66 games) and the utility slot (he also started games at second base, shortstop and first base).

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He has followed that up with an exceptional postseason, hitting .429 with 15 hits, the most for a player in his first nine career postseason games since Daniel Murphy in 2015. He attributes his success to learning from his failures — “I’ve had quite a few of those,” he said — and understanding that he’s at his best when he’s swinging often, even if that goes against the modern convention of waiting for your pitch.

“I just started to lean into my strength a little bit, which is putting the bat on the ball. I kind of tried to work the count a little bit and maybe try to draw some walks and hit for more power, and that’s just not really my game. Over the last couple years, I’ve learned to just make it hard on the opposing pitchers with my ability to get hits on pitchers’ pitches, and I’ve just really been more aggressive.”

Seattle’s potential secret hero: Bryan Woo

The Mariners’ top starter in the regular season had been sidelined since Sept. 19 due to a right pectoral strain. He wasn’t on the ALDS roster but finally made his postseason debut in Game 5, pitching two innings in relief in Game 5. Alejandro Kirk greeted him with a ringing double and then Clement drove him with an RBI single, although bounced back with a scoreless seventh, getting out of that jam when Kirk tapped back to the mound.

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It wasn’t necessarily a stellar effort — he didn’t record a strikeout and had just two swings and misses out of 28 pitches — but it was good enough. He did enjoy running through the “flames” as he left the bullpen for the mound. “Yeah, I told Logan [Gilbert] when he did it the other day, he looked like the coolest he’s ever looked, so I tried to replicate that.”

Woo said he’ll have to wait and see how he feels over the next couple of days, and he isn’t stretched back out to start yet but said “I’d love to contribute the next couple of games.” Given Wilson’s quick hook with Luis Castillo in Game 4 and relatively quick hook with Miller in Game 5, Woo’s potential to throw multiple innings to help bridge the gap to closer Andres Munoz looms large, whether it’s in Game 6 or Game 7.

Key stat to watch: 28 vs. 49

The Blue Jays have struck out just 28 times in the first five games compared to 49 for the Mariners. The Blue Jays had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors in the regular season and have been striking out even less often during the playoffs (just 14.4% of the time in the ALCS). That hasn’t actually produced much more hard contact in this series, however, as the Jays have 53 balls in play classified as hard-hit balls (95-plus mph) while the Mariners have hit 51. The Jays have 14 at 105-plus mph, and the Mariners have 15.

Still, on Friday everything went the Mariners’ way.

“To be honest, we dodged a lot of bullets today,” Raleigh said. There was a the double play on a line drive to first baseman Josh Naylor, Leo Rivas made a nice leaping grab of a line drive up the middle, Raleigh turned Clement’s ball in front of the plate into another double play and Randy Arozarena made a leaping grab at the wall in the eighth to rob Clement of a potential home run.

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Over the long haul, swing-and-miss is still a good thing for pitching staffs, and Seattle’s hasn’t generated nearly as much as Toronto’s: The Jays have swung and missed 70 times compared to 102 for the Mariners.

Logan Gilbert, Seattle’s Game 6 starter, was a big swing-and-miss pitcher during the regular season with the third highest strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 100 innings, behind only Zack Wheeler and Chris Sale. He lasted just three innings in his Game 2 start, however, generating just five swinging strikes in 58 pitches. The Mariners will hope that poor effort was a result of starting on two days of rest after pitching two innings in relief in the 15-inning win over Detroit in the ALDS.

Likewise, Trey Yesavage, Toronto’s rookie starter who has pitched just 23.1 innings in the big leagues, will try to find his form from his ALDS start against the Yankees when he struck out 11 in 5.1 hitless innings. The Mariners got to him for five runs in four innings in Game 2 as he walked three, and Julio Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the first inning.

The key decision: When to go to the bullpens

Both managers have deployed quick hooks with the starters — and both saw those moves backfire in the three games in Seattle. In Game 4, Wilson pulled Luis Castillo in the third inning after just 48 pitches, the shortest start of Castillo’s career, and went early to his high-leverage relievers, but Gabe Speier walked in one of Castillo’s runs, and Matt Brash threw a wild pitch to let in one of the two runs Speier allowed. Wilson doubled in Game 5, pulling Bryce Miller after a leadoff single in the fifth even though he had yet to allow a run. Brash let that inherited runner score, and then Bryan Woo later allowed another run.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider’s decision in Game 5 might have been even more questionable, leaving closer Jeff Hoffman in the pen in the eighth while going first to Brendon Little and then to Seranthony Dominguez, and they combined to allow five runs in blowing the 2-1 lead. Hoffman never got in the game.

Little came on and gave up the home run to Raleigh and then walked the next two batters.

“We talked about it all series,” Schneider said after the game. “Little’s been one of our best pitchers in big spots. Tough guy to elevate. Cal’s a really good hitter. I get it, man. After that, you got to settle down and throw strikes too. So that’s been part of Little’s game. So has strikeouts. Again, I trust every single guy on this roster. It’s hard. No one feels worse than Little, no one feels worse than Ser right now, or me. But I trust every single guy on this roster. Today it didn’t work out, but we’ve won two games in a row a whole lot this year.”

That’s where we’re at: The Blue Jays need to win two to reach their first World Series since 1993. The Mariners need one to reach their first. Ohtani and the Dodgers await. Let’s play some ball.

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Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy reportedly could be back on the field for the team’s Week 9 game against the Detroit Lions.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that the high ankle sprain was initially seen as a six-week setback when he suffered it in Week 2.

“That means it’s unlikely he’ll be back next week against the Chargers. They’re hopeful he’ll be back a week after at Detroit.”

The Vikings selected McCarthy, a former Michigan star who led the Wolverines to an undefeated, national championship-winning 2023 season, with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft.

Unfortunately, McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus in the 2024 preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, and he missed the entire campaign.

McCarthy returned for 2025 and played his team’s first two games, completing 24-of-41 passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 50 yards and another score.

Unfortunately, McCarthy suffered a right high ankle sprain in Week 2, when Minnesota fell 22-6 at home to the Atlanta Falcons. Per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, McCarthy completed the game but “reported significant soreness the next morning.”

Carson Wentz has been the team’s starter in McCarthy’s place. Over three starts, Wentz has completed 69 percent of his passes for 759 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.

He will remain in the role for Sunday’s game against his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Max Brosmer has been the team’s backup with McCarthy out. Brosmer is an undrafted rookie who played college ball at New Hampshire before transferring to Minnesota for the 2024 season. He was a First-team FCS All-American for New Hampshire in 2023.

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