Springer HR sends Blue Jays to 1st WS since '93

TORONTO -- Nothing changed for the Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball's premier comeback artists in this dream of a season, before George Springer completed the franchise's most important comeback since 1993 in their 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

The Blue Jays desperately needed runs in the eighth inning, so manager John Schneider, in keeping with a superstition he has shared with Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins since Opening Day, sat down on the bench in the home dugout at Rogers Centre and watched the surreal sequence unfold. The bottom third of Toronto's batting order, a pesky group of journeymen and defensive stalwarts and overlooked players who have found a home north of the border, did not flinch with Mariners ace Bryan Woo on the mound in relief. Instead, they sparked a rally.

And Springer, the starring actor in so many October dramas on another team in a previous life, did not deviate from his preparation. He stayed out of the batting cage. He stayed off the tablet so many of his peers use to analyze themselves and their foes.

"He's very clear minded," Popkins said. "He feels things."

And Springer felt what was coming when he hobbled into the batter's box with runners on second and third, the Blue Jays down two runs, and Rogers Centre on the verge of its roof busting open.

The Mariners, knowing he was hampered by a sore right knee after he was hit on the kneecap by a pitch in Game 5, sought to establish the inner half of the plate with two-seam fastballs against Springer all game. The game plan was obvious when he led off the top of the first inning and George Kirby brushed him off the plate with two two-seamers to begin the encounter.

Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo, summoned by manager Dan Wilson over closer Andres Munoz to face Springer eight outs from the franchise's first trip to the World Series, stayed with the approach. Bazardo's first pitch, on cue, was a two-seam fastball inside, off the plate. The second pitch was another two-seamer.

That one, however, caught too much of the plate and Springer turned on it, launching the baseball into the seats in left field for a go-ahead, three-run home run feet from where Joe Carter had deposited a baseball to win the Blue Jays the 1993 World Series.

"I knew I got the guy in from third, which was all I was trying to do and then I started to watch the outfielder," Springer said. "I watched what happened and I sort of blacked out after that."

This blast, after the Blue Jays secured six more outs, sent the Blue Jays to the World Series for the first time since those heroics. They'll face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning champions attempting to become the first team to repeat in 25 years. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at Rogers Centre.

"Any time your back leg's compromised, it's a little harder to turn," Popkins said. "But he had one turn left so they kind of fell into a trap there."

It was Springer's 23rd career postseason home run, tied for third-most in postseason history.

"It leaked a little bit over the heart (of the plate)" Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh said of the pitch Springer hit. "Maybe should've gone with a different pitch."

Springer hit the first 19 of his postseason homers while manning center field for the Houston Astros for five Octobers. The other four have come in this postseason, his third with the Blue Jays since signing a six-year, $150 million contract in January 2021. His first two playoff appearances in Toronto resulted in zero wins in four games.

This year the Blue Jays, after vaulting from 74 wins and last place in the American League East to 94 wins and division champions, are four wins away from the third World Series in franchise history. While Springer provided Monday's heroics, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALCS MVP after going 10-for-26 (.385) with three home runs, three doubles and a 1.330 OPS in the series.

After the game, Guerrero, who signed a 14-year, $500 million contract extension to remain with the organization that signed him at 16 years old through his age-40 season, was in tears on the field as he addressed a raucous crowd that had struck around to celebrate.

"I was born here," said Guerrero, who was born in Montreal while his father played for the Expos. "I grew up in the Dominican, and then from the moment that I signed here, I knew I was going to be here my entire career. I knew I had to somehow make all the fans, the entire country, proud of me, of my team. And like I always say, my challenge is to bring the World Series here back to Canada."

Guerrero loomed two batters after Springer when Bazardo chose to attack him. In the Blue Jays' dugout, Schneider wondered if the Mariners would pitch around Springer or intentionally walk him outright with first base open and replace Bazardo with left-hander Gabe Speier to face the left-handed-hitting Nathan Lukes. But Bazardo stayed in.

Moments earlier, before the start of the half inning, Guerrero said he went down into the tunnel, got down on his knees and prayed for a win.

"Then George hit the homer," Guerrero said. "So, it was great."

The home run was a fitting encapsulation to the 36-year-old Springer's season, one of resurgence from start to finish. Springer batted just .220 with 19 home runs and a .674 OPS last season, his fourth in Toronto and the fourth straight year he saw his production decline. This year, he bounced back to become one of the best hitters in the majors, hitting .309 with 32 home runs and a .959 OPS as the Blue Jays' full-time designated hitter to spearhead Toronto's turnaround.

"We've just been reinforcing him to be who he has been his whole career," Popkins said. "Go be violent. Go be aggressive. Don't slow down. You're a f---ing lion. Go attack and it just empowered him to be who he is."

And there was nobody else the Blue Jays wanted at the plate in that spot in the eighth inning, with their season on the brink, than a hindered Springer.

"I had no doubt in my mind," said Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who missed the series with a knee injury.

Added Schneider: "It was almost like an out-of-body experience because of what he means to this team, to this organization."

That the heroics came days after Mariners fans booed when Springer took that 95-mph sinker from Woo off the kneecap in Game 5 and cheered when he exited was not forgotten during the Blue Jays celebration. One Blue Jay noted during the postgame celebration that it was "fitting" that Springer ended the Mariners' season after the episode.

More importantly, the home run, another that will live on in Canadian baseball lore, extended the Blue Jays' season for a chance to win it all.

"I love this team so much," Springer said.

ESPN senior writer Buster Olney contributed to this report.