‘All Hands on Deck’: Mariners Face Blue Jays in ALCS Game 7
TORONTO, Canada — Game 7: the two best words in sports. The Seattle Mariners have never made it this far in their entire history. All three times they had previously made it to the ALCS, their opponents had kicked them out before any game of games could be played.
Not so in 2025. The Mariners and Blue Jays have met in six games across eight days to determine which one will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Each one told a different story, momentum shifting on a dime, but no team reached the four wins necessary to clinch the victory. Chances abounded for the Blue Jays in Game 5, but it was the Mariners who pounced in front of their home fans to take a 3-2 series lead. The script was flipped in Toronto two days later, as the Jays defied elimination while the M’s let the chance to make history slip through their fingers.
There can be no cavalier attitudes had, no assumptions made under the Monday night lights. Although George Kirby will take the mound for Seattle and Shane Bieber will do so for Toronto, the two teams will be able to draw both on their bullpens and on multiple starting pitchers if needed.
“Expect to have all hands on deck down there in the bullpen and ready to go at any point,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Still, the matchup between Bieber and Kirby is of prime importance. Both have already met before in Game 3, but that was a bad day for Seattle. Kirby gave up eight runs and left the game with no outs in the fifth, striking out four while walking two, and gave up three of Toronto’s five home runs that day. Kirby’s command had some issues on Wednesday as he oscillated between leaving stuff out in the middle of the plate and missing the zone by far too much to fool any of Toronto’s hitters.
Although Toronto’s offensive explosion gave Bieber a whole lot of room to work with, he still shoved in Game 3, throwing six innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. His only blip came in the first inning as Julio Rodríguez blasted a fastball deep into the bullpen to get the M’s on the board. After that, though, the Jays hurler relied on his breaking stuff to throw strikes, catching Seattle off-guard as the Mariners fell into a habit of taking pitches they needed to swing at and hacking at balls they had to lay off of.
Kirby’s job, along with that of every Mariners pitcher, is made harder by the fact that he has to deal with one of the hottest playoff mashers in recent memory. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been destroying baseballs ever since October began, with a .462/.532/1.000 slash line—yes, he has 39 total bases in 39 at-bats—in the 2025 playoffs. The Jays’ pure hitter has launched three home runs for every strikeout in 10 postseason games in 2025 and has been intentionally walked twice as many times as he has been punched out. Covering every corner of the plate and using all corners of the field, he is the biggest titan remaining in the American League.
“You have to find a way to not let him beat you in some way,” Wilson said about Guerrero. “He’s someone you have to take note of, and that’s for us to do going forward.”
That’s not to say that the Mariners don’t have any sluggers on their end, though. Josh Naylor has hit safely more than any other Mariner, with a .341/.383/.591 slash line, and his aggressive approach contrasts with much of the rest of the team and provides an opportunity to ambush opposing pitchers who log a lot of strikes against the patient guys that fill the remainder of the order. Cal Raleigh, a vaunted Jays-slayer, has been the most productive overall, with a .302/.400/.628 slash line over his 11 postseason contests.
But it is the bottom of the order that needs to get going for the Mariners. Toronto has gotten a lot of action out of guys like Ernie Clement—slashing .447/.463/.658—that inhabit the final third of the order, and Andrés Giménez’ two unlikely home runs marked the inflection points of two straight Blue Jays wins. Seattle, however, has struggled to complement the heart of the order. Dominic Canzone, one of the most underappreciated regular season Mariners, has suffered a meager .111/.143/.111 slash line over 10 games, while J.P. Crawford’s usual peskiness has all but vanished. Leo Rivas has been one of the few late-lineup hitters to do a good job making opposing pitchers work, drawing a walk in 23.5 percent of his postseason plate appearances, but the rest of his stat line has been more pedestrian.
Regardless of the outcome, this is the first Game 7 for almost everyone on the roster. Julio Rodríguez, who roared to life in the second half and has had some big moments in the playoffs, expressed his awe at the opportunity that sits in front of his team.
“The truth is that I’m very excited to have this opportunity,” Rodríguez said. “Basically, to fulfill one of my dreams, in a sense, of being able to play in a Game 7.”
But to get this close to the promised land and yet fall short will be the heartbreak of heartbreaks for one of these hungry teams. The only thing that is certain about Monday night’s game is that both sides will leave it all on the field.
