TORONTO – More than three decades after Joe Carter touched them all, George Springer gave the Toronto Blue Jays another home run for the ages, vaulting them into the World Series for the first time since they won their second consecutive championship in 1993.

Springer’s momentous, go-ahead three-run home run flipped Game 7 of this American League Championship Series in the Blue Jays’ favor, and they held on to defeat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in front of a Rogers Centre crowd that erupted like it hasn’t in years with one swing of the bat.

Game 1 of the World Series is Friday, Oct. 24, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers invading Toronto in a first-ever Fall Classic matchup. The Dodgers would’ve opened at home, were it not for a stunning pivot point in a winner-take-all game.

It came in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mariners leading 3-1 thanks to home runs from their superstar sluggers, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, and just eight outs away from the first World Series trip in franchise history.

Yet thanks in part to a decision that may follow manager Dan Wilson around for the remainder of his career, the Blue Jays salvaged their season just in time.

Wilson lifted ace Bryan Woo, who’d pitched two scoreless innings of relief but let the first two runners on in the seventh, in favor of right-hander Eduard Bazardo, who pitched two innings the night before in a losing Game 6 effort.

The move immediately backfired.

Thanks to a sacrifice bunt, Bazardo inherited a one-out situation with the tying runs in scoring position. Yet he’d be facing a diminished Springer, playing in the fifth Game 7 of his storied October career yet hobbled by a bum knee after Woo drilled him with a pitch there three nights earlier.

Bazardo had thrown 15 pitches the night before. Know who was fully rested?

Andres Muñoz, the Mariners’ two-time All-Star closer, who struck out 12 batters per nine innings this season and had two days’ rest.

And the Mariners really needed a strikeout.

Instead, Bazardo left a sinker in the middle of the plate, right in Springer’s happy zone. Springer swung, and his eyes got big. The crowd did not erupt, skeptical of the ball’s flight.

Yet as left fielder Randy Arozarena’s pursuit of the ball faded, a roar reached a crescendo, and the crowd of 44,770 erupted when the ball settled in the first row of the outfield seats.

Springer nearly stopped in his tracks in disbelief rounding first. The building shook. The Blue Jays led 4-3.

Meanwhile, Wilson’s counterpart John Schneider managed his own all-hands pitching meeting deftly. Ace Kevin Gausman pitched a scoreless sixth inning to record the win.

Chris Bassitt, a starter idled for bullpen work in these playoffs, pitched a perfect eighth, doubled over in emotion as he exulted inducing a J.P. Crawford ground ball for the last out.

Finally, closer Jeff Hoffman, who also worked two innings in Game 6, struck out the side in the ninth, setting off bedlam in this hockey town that goes crazy for its lads on the diamond when they’re going well.

The Mariners? They remain the franchise of legends, of Edgar and the Big Unit and Junior and Ichiro. This seemed the night their superstars finally converted their talent into October gold.

Instead, one false move did them in – and the World Series will be returning to Canada for the first time since Carter’s Series-ending shot against Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams in 1993.

Move over, Joe. Springer’s 23rd career postseason homer deserves your company. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is ALCS MVP

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALVS MVP after going 10-for-26 (.385) with three home runs and a 1.330 OPS in the seven-game series.

Toronto’s first baseman signed a 14-year, $500 million extension to stay with the Blue Jays earlier this year.

Here’s how ALCS Game 7 unfolded:

George Springer home run flips Game 7, puts Blue Jays in front

George Springer’s three-run homer off Eduard Bazardo sent Toronto into a frenzy, giving the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning of Game 7.

Springer’s 23rd career postseason home run ties him with Kyle Schwarber for third-most in MLB history.

Bryan Woo began the inning for Seattle but walked Addison Barger to lead off and gave up a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. A bunt got the runners to second and third with Bazardo coming on to replace Woo. With out out, Springer launched the go-ahead homer to left.

Bryan Woo in for Seattle, Mariners lead 3-1 through six

TORONTO – Bryan Woo won the finest mano-a-mano battle of the night, and the Mariners are nine outs away from their first World Series. 

In his second inning of relief, Woo engaged Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a nine-pitch match, Guerrero fouling off three two-strike pitches, Woo never giving in. 

Finally, Guerrero blinked. 

He flailed at a 2-2 sweeper well outside the strike zone for the first out of the sixth inning, deflating Rogers Centre and rendering the Alejandro Kirk single that followed harmless. 

It is 3-1 Mariners heading to the seventh – and ace Kevin Gausman is on in relief for the Blue Jays. 

Cal Raleigh home run puts Mariners up 3-1

TORONTO – The superstars are showing out for the Mariners, who are starting to take command of this ALCS Game 7 as they seek the first World Series trip in franchise history. 

Cal Raleigh rocketed a home run into his team’s bullpen in right field and the Mariners took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth. 

So far, they’ve already won one moral victory: George Kirby pitched four virtually incident-free innings, keeping the Mariners bullpen idled until Bryan Woo relieved him in the fifth. 

Meanwhile, Raleigh’s homer came off top Blue Jays set-up man Louis Varland, and Toronto will have to play uphill the rest of the way.

Shane Bieber removed: Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1

TORONTO – Shane Bieber committed the cardinal sin of walking the No. 9 batter, producing the first pitching change of ALCS Game 7. 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider lifted Bieber with two outs in the top of the fourth, two men on and Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez – who doubled and homered in his first two at-bats – coming to the plate. 

Wise move. Top set-up man Louis Varland induced a grounder to third and the Mariners stranded a pair of runners and cling to a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the fourth. 

Bieber pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and two runs, striking out five and walking one. 

Julio Rodriguez home runs puts Mariners back in front

TORONTO — Julio Rodriguez grimaced in pain after fouling a ball off his left leg. Then, he put a hurting on a Shane Bieber slider, driving it 109 mph into the left field seats for a home run to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead over the Blue Jays heading to the bottom of the third in ALCS Game 7. 

Rodriguez limped around the batter’s box and was visited by Mariners manager Dan Wilson and a trainer before staying in the game. Six pitches later, he found a Shane Bieber slider to his liking and drove it 423 feet into the left field seats. 

Mariners starter George Kirby has given up three hits through two innings, and neither club has had action in its bullpen in this winner-take-all game. 

Crazy inning has ALCS Game 7 tied 1-1

TORONTO – If the first inning is any indication, it will be a loud, long and loony night for ALCS Game 7 at Rogers Centre. 

Josh Naylor and Daulton Varsho exchanged RBI singles as the Mariners and Blue Jays were tied 1-1 after the first frame. 

But that’s hardly the half of it. 

The top of the first ended when Naylor leapt, turned and was struck by a throw from Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement, who was on the verge of completing a very routine double play – until it wasn’t. Naylor was originally ruled safe until umpires huddled and called interference – calling out Naylor and batter Jorge Polanco both. 

Pitchers Shane Bieber and George Kirby both struggled, throwing 20 and 25 pitches, but avoided more trouble as Kirby left runners at the corners by getting Ernie Clement to fly to center. 

Josh Naylor called for interference

TORONTO — On a potential double-play ground ball off the bat of Jorge Polanco in the top of the first, Josh Naylor left his feet and turned his head as Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement – who cut off shortstop Andrés Giménez to field the ball –  threw to first to complete a 5-3 double play. 

The ball ricocheted into foul ground and Polanco was originally called safe. 

But after a conference among the six umpires, they umpires ruled interference and both runners were out. 

Mariners take first-inning lead in Game 7

Julio Rodriguez hit a leadoff double against Shane Bieber and came around to score on Josh Naylor’s RBI single with one out, staking the Mariners to an early lead in Toronto.

Mariners lineup today: ALCS Game 7

1. Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
2. Cal Raleigh (S) C
3. Josh Naylor (L) 1B
4. Jorge Polanco (S) DH
5. Randy Arozarena (R) LF
6. Eugenio Suárez (R) 3B
7. J.P. Crawford (L) SS
8. Leo Rivas (S) 2B
9. Victor Robles (R) RF

Blue Jays Game 7 lineup

1. George Springer (R) DH
2. Nathan Lukes (L) LF
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
4. Alejandro Kirk (R) C
5. Daulton Varsho (L) CF
6. Ernie Clement (R) 3B
7. Addison Barger (L) RF
8. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
9. Andrés Giménez (L) SS

George Springer injury update for ALCS Game 7

TORONTO – With a pair of home runs and a .960 OPS through six games, George Springer has stood tall in this American League Championship Series.

Except when he was down in the dirt, a 95-mph pitch from Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo drilling him directly in the right knee. Or, two nights later, when he came back for a game the Toronto Blue Jays had to win, took four plate appearances without incident, but then winced and hopped and grimaced through the searing pain in his fifth.

And now here he is, in a place so foreign to nearly every major leaguer but almost a second home for him: Game 7, the fifth in his career as he chases a second World Series title.

Said Springer: “This is what you want. I don’t think here’s anybody across the league that if you said in spring training, ‘Hey, you’re going to be in Game 7 of the ALCS,’ that you’re going to say, ‘Oh, man, no.’”

Mariners vs Blue Jays Game 7 predictions

• Bob Nightengale: Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3
• Gabe Lacques: Blue Jays 6, Mariners 4
• Jesse Yomtov: Blue Jays 5, Mariners 1

Blue Jays championships: Toronto World Series wins

The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.

They defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games in 1992 for their first title and then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six to repeat, clinching on Joe Carter’s walk-off home run.

When does the World Series start?

• Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24
• Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
• Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
• Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
• *Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29
• *Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31
• *Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1

Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez embraces Game 7 pressure

Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez has two homers, five RBIs and five walks so far in the ALCS.

‘Tis is my first time being part of a Game 7, and they say in sports that there’s no better two words than that,’ Rodriguez said before Game 7.

‘We’ve got here by being who we are, by playing our baseball. I feel like that is something that you have to double down. There is no need to do more,’ Rodriguez told reporters.

‘I feel like everybody have been doing it the whole year, we’ve been playing baseball the whole year, preparing the whole year. And it came down to one game you just do one more of the same thing.’

With more than 40% of the season behind us, there are only two ways to improve your rosters — waiver wire and trades.

Evaluating a fantasy trade can be a daunting task. Most managers value their players more than they’re actually worth. That’s where the Week 8 fantasy football trade value charts come in. You can also check out our Week 8 fantasy rankings to help with lineup and waiver decisions this week.

The charts can be used as your very own fantasy football trade analyzer in standard, half-PPR (point per reception) and full PPR leagues. Someone sends you an offer? Simply pull out a calculator (on your phone, you don’t need an actual calculator) and plug in the values for each player. Don’t worry, six-points-per-passing-touchdown and superflex leagues are covered as well.

Important note: If you’re offered an uneven trade (i.e., a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1), include the values for the players you’d be moving to the bench or dropping within your calculation. Example: If someone in your league offers you Breece Hall, Stefon Diggs, and Jakobi Meyers (combined value of 91) for Ja’Marr Chase (71), it might look like you’re getting the better end of it. However, if you’re bumping down, say, Kyle Monangai and Tez Johnson (combined value of 42) in the process, it’s a net negative deal for you.

The rankings are based on how players should be valued in 12-team leagues. Players are sorted in order of their half-PPR values.

Quarterback trade value chart

(Note: ‘6/TD’ is for leagues that award six points for passing touchdowns and ‘SFLEX’ stands for superflex.)

Running back trade value chart

Wide receiver trade value chart

Tight end trade value chart

Overall Week 8 fantasy football rest-of-season rankings

Note: These values are for 12-team, one-QB leagues with half-PPR scoring.

TORONTO — George Springer has heard almost everything from opposing fan bases throughout his career, the price every clutch postseason performer pays as their career goes on. It has been laid on even thicker in road games since the 2019 revelation of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scheme.

So when he was asked before Game 7 of the ALCS how he felt when Seattle Mariners fans booed him when he crumbled to the ground when a 95-mph pitch struck him on the right knee in Game 5, he demurred. Just concerned about his health, he said.

Yet that hit a little different for Springer’s father, George Jr., who had to watch his son berated by a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Park, with fans cursing the slugger as he writhed in pain.

Even when Springer and the Toronto Blue Jays got a significant measure of revenge when he hit a go-ahead three-run home run that sent the Blue Jays to the World Series and eliminated the Mariners, father was still stinging about son getting booed while he was suffering.

“I’ll be completely honest about that: That was the most despicable fan behavior I have ever witnessed. Anywhere,” Springer’s father told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve been to soccer games and football games and obviously Major League Baseball games the past 12 years, in playoff environments, in tough places to play.

“I have never seen a fan base boo a player who was injured. Rejoice in their injury. Those fans will now have a very long offseason to reflect on their behavior.”

Springer’s 23^rd career postseason home run came off Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo and flipped a two-run Blue Jays deficit into a 4-3 victory. The Mariners are still seeking their first trip to the World Series, left to wonder about next year, which came far sooner than they would have imagined.

The elder Springer hopes it allows ample time for soul-searching for the fans cursing his son right behind him at T-Mobile Park.

“I hope when they come back in the spring, and cheer on their team,” he says, “they’ll be better fans and better people.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder can be seen as the current gold standard for building a championship team. This new era began when Billy Donovan left to coach the Chicago Bulls, and Mark Daigneault took over. The Thunder won 22 games in Daigneault’s first season in 2020 and have increased their win total over the past four years, culminating in an NBA-high 68 wins and the team’s first championship. 

This was achieved by stockpiling draft picks, using those picks to select role players, and executing a franchise-changing trade to acquire Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Los Angeles Clippers.

General manager Sam Presti, who won his first long-overdue Executive of the Year award last season, is making sure the championship core remains intact by signing league and Finals MVP Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren to long, big-money contract extensions, and barring injury and complacency, could sit atop the perch for the rest of the decade.

Oklahoma City is again the odds-on favorite to bring home another championship. Here are five teams that could throw a wrench in that coronation:

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland seems best equipped to stop the Thunder from becoming the first team to repeat since the 2018 Golden State Warriors. Last year, the Cavaliers started with a 15-game winning streak and had the best record in the East, but their postseason run ended with a disappointing five-game drubbing to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Semifinals. Although they had the defensive player of the year, Evan Mobley, their defense let them down in the playoffs, and they finished 9th in defensive rating during the regular season. First-team All-NBA selection Donovan Mitchell provides consistent scoring and stability, while the additions of Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. are expected to strengthen their bench, so Cleveland will likely remain one of the league’s top teams. 

Denver Nuggets

Any team with the league’s dominant force is a contender every season. Nikola Jokic, a three-time MVP, averaged a triple-double last year, and with new head coach David Adelman, don’t expect that production to decline. What has changed is that Michael Porter, Jr. is now in Brooklyn, and to compensate for his absence, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, along with new additions Cameron Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valančiūnas, and Bruce Brown, should provide enough support for Jokic so Denver can improve on its No. 4 seed and the seven-game conference semifinals loss to the Thunder. Keep an eye on guard Christian Braun, a 15-point-a-game scorer and recipient of a new five-year, $125 million extension, who may be in the running for Most Improved Player.

New York Knicks

Is it now or never for the five-decade championship-starved Knicks after making their first conference finals appearance in 25 years? That loss to the Pacers led to Tom Thibodeau being fired and replaced by Mike Brown, who has promised a different style of basketball with a more up-tempo pace and almost a reliance on the three-point shot. That could lead to a heavy burden being lifted off Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson. Brunson could be planted out on the perimeter instead of being ball-dominant and distributing, even though he had a career-high in assists last season. With the Pacers and Boston Celtics having superstars nursing Achilles injuries, New York’s path to the Finals figures to be less complicated.

Houston Rockets

The conversation with the Rockets begins and ends with 37-year-old Kevin Durant, who is on his third team this decade. Durant, with his new two-year, $90 million extension, is expected to lift the Rockets into immediate championship contention, even without guard Fred VanVleet, who was lost for the year with a knee injury. Durant is expected to be scoring option 1, 2, and 3, something Houston lacked last year. The Rockets’ young core, especially All-Defensive First Team selection Amen Thompson, will be crucial in advancing past the first round, where their season ended. But this team’s identity should be on the defensive end, with four starters listed at 6-foot-10 or taller. And despite Durant being expected to wear a cape on most nights, any realistic title aspirations have to start with lockdown defense.

Minnesota Timberwolves

There is no other way to put it: the Timberwolves are loaded, and anything less than another appearance at least to the Western Conference finals would be a massive disappointment. Anthony Edwards is a bona fide superstar and should be in the MVP conversation. His teammates, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and Julius Randle, provide more than enough punch to where they should waltz deep into the playoffs. One concern may be at the point guard position. Mike Conley is 38 years old, so if second-year player Rob Dillingham can take over those reins, the Timberwolves, who were rated in the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, can turn their balanced roster into champions.

The Los Angeles Lakers begin the 2025-26 season, hosting the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with the expectation of being a true contender in a tough Western Conference.

Luka Dončić and LeBron James headline the Lakers’ roster, but it will be the depth the organization has put around the two superstars that will determine how deep the Lakers can make a run in the playoffs.

The Lakers managed to finish third in the Western Conference and made the playoffs last season after acquiring Dončić on Feb. 2, but finished out the postseason with three straight losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.

While guard Austin Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton round out the starting lineup, here are some underrated players on the roster this season that could help make a difference this season.

Marcus Smart, Guard

Smart could prove to be a key contributor for the Lakers. He could give the Lakers a physical point-of-attack defender.

The guard is a three-time all-defensive player and won the Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2021-22 season. In the seasons that followed, he has struggled to stay healthy.

He’s dealt with a finger issue dating back to December of 2024 that carried over throughout the early part of 2025.

Smart spent the last season with both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Washington Wizards, starting in just seven of the 34 games he played together. With the small sample size, he averaged nine points, 3.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game in 20 minutes played.

Gabe Vincent, Guard

Vincent adds a level of versatility for the Lakers, showing the ability to play as a point guard and a shooting guard.

He will be in the starting lineup, replacing James, for the season opener when the Lakers host the Warriors on Tuesday.

The veteran guard showed why he’s a valuable asset for the Lakers’ depth, scoring 14 points in the preseason finale on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in 23 minutes of play. He was 4-of-5 from the three-point line. He also produced another double-digit scoring output, with 18 points in the first four minutes of play against the Dallas Mavericks after going 5-for-5 from three.

The UC Santa Barbara product scored 6.4 points, 1.4 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 72 games played last season for the Lakers.

Maxi Kleber, Center

Kleber arrived in Los Angeles as part of the Dončić trade with the Mavericks. Kleber was dealing with a foot fracture that sidelined him, and he didn’t see time on the court for the Lakers until the playoffs, where he played just one game.

Kleber is already questionable for the season opener against the Warriors because of an abdominal injury.

If he can stay healthy, he could serve as another backup big man who can stretch the floor for the Lakers.

Jaxson Hayes, Center/Forward

Hayes is no stranger to the fan base, having taken over as the starting center after Anthony Davis was traded to the Mavericks. 

Hayes can play as a forward and a center, but appeared to fall out of favor with coach JJ Redick during the postseason and saw limited action. He started four of the team’s five playoff games but averaged just 7.8 minutes.

Hayes could potentially thrive with the second unit, where he isn’t dealing with the expectation of filling Davis’ shoes.

He averaged 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game. Hayes started 35 of the 56 games he played last season.