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We are guaranteed of a first-time World Series matchup. With each team playing their own role in that. The Seattle Mariners have never made the World Series since joining MLB in 1977 as an expansion team. The Toronto Blue Jays are a two-time World Series participant, winning back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993, beating Atlanta and the Philadelphia Phillies, respectively. The Milwaukee Brewers have been once, representing the AL in 1982 against the St. Louis Cardinals, then moving to the NL in 1998. The Dodgers, with history in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, have 22 trips to the World Series, having won eight titles, including last year. It all adds up to a first-time Fall Classic pairing.
The full broadcast schedule for the #ALCS and #NLCS!
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Championship Series Chatter
Weary Mariners Strike First In ALCS
Final score: Mariners 3, Blue Jays 1
Series: Mariners lead 1-0
Next game: Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert vs. Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage, today, 5:03 p.m. at Rogers Centre (Fox)
Following a 15-inning elimination game Friday and a delayed five-hour flight Saturday, the Seattle Mariners could have been excused for not being overly sharp for Sunday’s Game 1 of the AL Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. With what turned out to be two minor exceptions, the Mariners were extremely on their game and stole home-field advantage to open the best-of-seven series. Right-handed starter Bryce Miller saved a tired bullpen with six strong innings, Cal Raleigh homered and Friday’s hero Jorge Polanco snapped the tie again as the Mariners beat the Jays 3-1 at Rogers Centre. Miller, pitching for the first time in his career on short rest, and three relievers combined on two-hitter, while Polanco had two RBIs.
The only current MLB team not to appear in the World Series, the Mariners were in trouble immediately as George Springer hit Miller’s very first pitch of the game for a 385-foot opposite-field homer to right to drive the home crowd wild with a quick 1-0 lead. Miller walked two of the next three batters before retiring the following two batters and finishing the inning with 27 pitches. For a team that used two starters in relief in the 15-inning marathon Friday in eliminating the Detroit Tigers with a 3-2 win, it could have been a disaster. But Miller settled in from there after a mound visit from Raleigh, the catcher, allowing just a one-out single in the second before retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced, just issuing a two-out walk in the sixth. That second-inning single by Anthony Santander was the final hit for the Jays.
Because of the homer, Miller was overshadowed by Jays right-handed starter Kevin Gausman, who retired 15 straight after allowing back-to-back one-out singles to Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez in the first inning. Gausman was one out from getting through the sixth without allowing a run when Raleigh repeated what 60 times during the regular season by crushing a 2-2 split-finger fastball for his second homer of the playoffs to right field to tie it 1-1. A walk to Rodriguez ended his day, but that wasn’t the end of the Mariners’ scoring in the sixth. Right-hander Brandon Little’s wild pitch sent Rodriguez to second, then Polanco — a switch-hitter who drove in the winning run with single to right in Friday’s game — had single to left to drive in Rodriguez without a throw to put the Mariners up 2-1. Polanco wasn’t done. In the eighth, Randy Arozarena drew a leadoff walk from right-hander Serathony Dominguez and, after Raleigh struck out, stole second and third before Rodriguez walked again. Polanco, batting left-handed this time, again came up big with a two-out full-count single to left to plate Arozarena for a 3-1 lead.
Meanwhile, the Mariners’ bullpen was keeping the Jays’ bats quiet. Left-hander Gabe Speier, right-hander Matt Brash and closer Andrés Muñoz each pitched a perfect inning as the Jays only managed one baserunner in the final 24 hitters.
Randy Arozarena set up that @Mariners run by stealing TWO bags! #ALCS
By The Numbers
⚾ George Springer’s leadoff homer was his 21st in the postseason, taking sole possession of fifth place in MLB history. Manny Ramirez holds the record with 29. Springer also became the second-oldest player to hit a leadoff homer. Springer is 36 years, 23 days old, behind only Craig Biggio (38 years, 312 days), who did it in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS. It was also the first postseason leadoff homer in Jays history.
George Springer hits the first leadoff homer in @BlueJays Postseason history!
⚾ Teams that win Game 1 on the road in the current seven-game format of any series have won 40 of 71 series.
⚾ This is the first time since 2018 that all four teams in the League Championship Series won their division.
In Another League
Mythic Matchup? Underdog Brewers Set For Champs
Series: Game 1 of NL Championship Series
Next game: Dodgers LHP Blake Snell vs. Brewers TBA, today, 8:08 p.m. ET at American Family Field (TBS)
The David vs. Goliath story line is cute and easy from a national perspective. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest payroll in MLB history at $415.2 million. The Milwaukee Brewers, meanwhile, check in at 21st with $143.4 million. That disparity of $217.8 million is greater than the year-end competitive-balance payroll for 21 teams not named the Brewers. Outfielder Christian Yelich, the Brewers’ highest-paid player at $24.1 million this season, would rank fifth on the Dodgers’ CBT payroll. Twelve Dodgers make more than $10 million, while Yelich and first baseman Rhys Hoskins ($18 million) are the lone members of the Brew Crew to reach that figure. And Hoskins wasn’t even on the Brewers’ NL Division Series roster due to his reduced role following a thumb injury.
Still, the Brewers put together the best season in franchise history at 97-65, which was the best record in MLB this season. The Dodgers? Coming off their second World Series championship in five seasons, they again won the NL West at 93-69. All of this is to say, there are multiple ways to build a winning team, which is why the Brewers-Dodgers NLCS will be fascinating to watch. We all know about the Dodgers’ star-studded roster with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Tyler Glasnow. But how many Brewers can you name besides Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, and flamethrowing rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who became a household name overnight once he made his MLB debut in June? Maybe outfielder Jackson Chourio and right-handed starter Freddy Peralta, but that is about it.
If there is a glaring on-field disparity between the teams, it is the bullpens. Brewers relievers posted the sixth-best ERA in MLB at 3.63, while the Dodgers were 21st at 4.27. In the postseason, that gap is even more prevalent, with the Brewers checking in at 1.20 over 30 innings in one series and the Dodgers at 5.75 in 20⅓ in two series. However, the Dodgers have found a saving grace in their troubled bullpen in the form of rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki, a starter who has emerged from a regular season of troubles to take the closer role. The Brewers had two bullpen games in their five-game victory over the Chicago Cubs, so starters will need to pick up a bigger load in the NLCS. One possibility is moving either Misiorowski or fellow rookie right-hander Chad Patrick into the rotation.
The last time these two teams hooked up in the postseason was the 2018 NLCS, when the Dodgers won the final two games to advance to the World Series. Read more about the matchup on The Athletic and MLB.com.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Replay-Worthy
There is a good argument to challenge this play at the plate, but do you burn a challenge in the top of the first inning? Might be a good argument for an automatic challenge on plays at the plate, at least in the postseason.
Addison Barger cuts down Cal Raleigh at the plate! #ALCS
What Flavor Is It?
Mariners right fielder Victor Robles had a line-drive single hit his way that he butchered while the defensive-alignment card was in his mouth.
Victor Robles was apparently still looking at his alignment card and misplayed the ball
Almost Perfect
If an immaculate inning is retiring the side on nine strikes, what would it be called if done on three pitches? Jays starter Kevin Gausman came close in the fifth inning, doing it on four pitches.
Kevin Gausman gets through the 5th inning on just 4 pitches! #ALCS
Noteworthy News
Yesavage Calls Out Family Harassment
Rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who is getting the call to start Game 2 for the Jays, opened his press conference by addressing an apparent slew of negative comments that have been directed at his family and those close to him.
“Living in a world where there’s so many different opinions and feelings which result in a lot of hate, it’s sad to see that people close to me are being attacked for my performance on the field,” Yesavage said. “These people have done nothing to warrant this negativity from my actions. Whether that’s my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, my family, it’s just really sad. I know I have the platform to address it, so I am. I hope that people can realize those people have nothing to do with what happens on the field. And if you have a problem, I’m a man. I can take whatever opinions anybody has about me and my life.”
Yesavage didn’t want to say anything more about the issue, wanting to turn the focus back to baseball.
After Yesavage, the Jays will then send out 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber for Game 3 in Seattle. Yesavage had a dazzling postseason debut in Game 2 of the ALDS vs. the New York Yankees. He threw 5⅓ no-hit innings, striking out 11 with one walk in a 13-7 victory. That was just his fourth MLB game after making three regular-season starts. Bieber, meanwhile, was knocked around by the Yankees in Game 3, their only win of the series. Bieber lasted only 2⅔ innings, giving up three runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Bichette Not Ready
Despite a late push, shortstop Bo Bichette was not added to the Jays’ ALCS roster. Bichette has been out since Sept. 9 with a sprained left PCL. He was seen hitting and running in the days leading up to the ALCS, but the Jays determined he wasn’t in condition to help the team at this point. Bichette, scheduled to be a free agent after the season, slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 homers and 94 RBIs in a bounce-back season following a disappointing and injury-plagued 2024. The Jays have been starting Andrés Giménez, a three-time Gold Glove second baseman, at short during the postseason.
⚾ The Blue Jays did make a couple of changes to their ALCS roster, adding three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and fellow right-handed starter Chris Bassitt. Removed from the roster were two relievers — right-hander Tommy Nance and left-hander Justin Bruihl. Scherzer is a potential Game 4 starter, while Bassitt is more likely to fill a long-relief role.
⚾ As expected, right-handed starter Bryan Woo made the Mariners’ roster after injuring his right pectoral muscle and not being available for the AL Division Series. Infielder Miles Mastrobuoni was also included on the roster, while third baseman Ben Williamson and infielder Luke Raley were taken off.
Snell, Yamamoto For L.A.; Opener(?), Peralta For Crew
With the benefit of a couple extra days of rest, the Dodgers have set their first two (three?) starters for the NLCS, while the Brewers are still figuring things out. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell will start for the Dodgers in Game 1, followed by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. The Brewers, who had a bullpen game in the clinching Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Saturday, may be doing the same vs. the Dodgers. Manager Pat Murphy said the Brewers are undecided, but an opener is a top option with either right-hander Quinn Priester or left-hander Jose Quintana following in a bulk role. Right-hander Freddy Peralta will get Game 2 for the Crew.
That also means that Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani will not pitch in the first two games, likely leaving him as the starter for Game 3 or 4, with Tyler Glasnow likely getting the other start. Not starting Ohtani in the first two games relegates the right-hander to just the one start.
Extra Bases
⚾ Right-hander Logan Gilbert will start Game 2 for the Mariners. Gilbert pitched in relief Friday, needing 34 pitches to cover two innings. He will be pitching on two days’ rest. His last start was in Game 3 of the AL Division Series, going six innings in the Mariners’ 8-4 win Tuesday.
⚾ Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes was removed from the game in the top of the fourth after fouling a ball of the top of his right knee in the bottom of the first. Lukes, the No. 2 hitter in the lineup, did take walk in that plate appearance and flew out to left in the third inning. Myles Straw replaced Lukes.
Nathan Lukes fouled a pitch straight off his knee, stayed in the game, then finished a 12-pitch at-bat with a walk
— Talkin’ Baseball (Bot) (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2025-10-13T00:27:19.000Z
Articles You Should Read
The playoff showdown that could shape baseball’s future — Jared Diamond, Wall Street Journal
Boom-or-bust season is over: Now Cubs must reflect on what must change — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune
Brewers label themselves as underdogs; Dodgers aren’t falling for it — Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Spare parts: Vaughn, Brewers stretch further into October — Jim Margalus, SoxMachine.com
Settlement talks fail ahead of trial pitting Skaggs’ family vs. Angels — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times
