The latest:
- Game 6 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) is now underway in Toronto.
- Trey Yesavage, Toronto’s rookie starter who opened Game 2, is again on the mound for the Jays in Game 5. Logan Gilbert gets the start for the Mariners.
- Game 6 is a must-win for the Jays as the Mariners currently lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. If Game 7 is necessary, it will be played Monday, Oct. 20 in Toronto at 8:08 p.m. ET.
- The winner of the ALCS will go to the World Series to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series Friday.
Blue Jays slugger George Springer is returning to Toronto’s lineup for their must-win Game 6 American League Championship Series (ALCS) matchup against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Springer was forced out of the team’s Game 5 loss in Seattle Friday after being hit in the knee by a pitch in the seventh inning, but will be back to hit in the leadoff position Sunday at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, where the game gets underway at 8:03 p.m. ET.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Springer was in good spirits on Saturday after his X-rays and CT scan came back negative and would be ready to go.
“It was going to take a whole lot more … to keep him out of the lineup,” Schneider told reporters at news conference before Sunday’s game.
“He’s a little bit sore, he’s got some good seam marks on his knee from the sinker there, but I trust when George says he’s good.”
Addison Barger of the Toronto Blue Jays takes batting practice before Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners at Rogers Centre Sunday in Toronto. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)
Blue Jays rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage will be on the mound tonight. He also started Game 2 last week in Toronto, allowing five runs over four innings as the Jays fell to Seattle 10-3.
Toronto trails the best-of-seven playoff series 3-2, but despite facing elimination on Sunday, Schneider says his team isn’t preparing for Game 6 any differently because they’ve been locked in all year.
“We all know what’s at stake, but I think you have to go play your game,” Schneider said in a pre-game news conference Sunday in Toronto.
“I think that’s what we’ve done all year, and you gotta lean into it … these guys are really good at getting prepared every day, so there’s no other way to go about it.”
Toronto outfielder Daulton Varsho says that despite the Jays losing in dramatic fashion on a grand slam by the Mariners in Game 5, he’s not worried that momentum has shifted in Seattle’s favour for Game 6, noting the back-and-forth nature of the series has primed the Jays for this moment.
Daulton Varsho of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a double during the third inning against the Seattle Mariners in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at T-Mobile Park last Wednesday in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“Honestly, I think [momentum lasts] a couple innings,” Varsho said. “A big momentum swing can happen, but a team can come back really fast.”
Seattle manager Dan Wilson echoed those sentiments.
“Emotion, momentum — you call it what you want — does play a big role in the post-season, for sure, but each game presents its own challenges,” Wilson said.
“You treat each game differently … I think it’s kind of played out that way in this series.”
Right-hander Logan Gilbert, Seattle’s first-round pick in the 2018 MLB draft, will start Game 6 for the Mariners.
WATCH | Jays manager on Game 5 loss:
‘No one feels worse than Little,’ Jays manager says after Game 5 loss
The Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider discussed his call to start reliever Brendon Little in the 8th inning. The Jays lost 6-2 to the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of the ALCS Friday and trail 3-2 in the series.
The winner of the ALCS will go on to face the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Toronto has not advanced to the World Series since 1993 — when the Jays last won it all. Seattle has never advanced to the Fall Classic.
