TORONTO — For a franchise long defined by heartbreak, this was an entirely new kind of pain.
For a generation of fans daring to dream for the first time, this was baseball cruelty at its most unforgiving.
Cal Raleigh stood in front of reporters, tears in his eyes, his voice trembling as he tried to process what had just happened.
“I’m super proud of these guys. It was a great team effort — I love every guy in this room,” Raleigh said after the Mariners’ 4–3 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night — a defeat that ended the most magical season in franchise history in the most devastating way imaginable.
He paused several times, taking deep breaths before continuing.
“But ultimately… I hate to use the word failure, but that’s what it is,” he admitted. “Our goal was to get to the World Series and win it. That’s the standard, that’s the bar. We came up short, and it hurts.”
Eight outs away from reaching the World Series for the first time in franchise history — closer than they had ever been — the Mariners watched a two-run lead vanish in the seventh inning. As 44,770 fans inside Rogers Centre erupted, the Blue Jays completed a comeback that sealed their first American League championship in 32 years.
Bryan Woo, making his second relief appearance of the series after returning from a month-long pectoral strain, opened the bottom of the seventh by walking Addison Barger. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a sharp ground-ball single up the middle.
After a sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position, interim manager Dan Wilson made the biggest call of the season, summoning Eduard Bazardo — one of Seattle’s breakout stories of the year.
Bazardo, who went 5–0 in the regular season and had yet to lose a game, was appearing for the ninth time in 12 postseason contests.
Relying on his signature sinker, Bazardo threw two in a row to George Springer. The first sailed well inside. The second caught too much of the plate — and Springer didn’t miss. His three-run homer just cleared the left-field wall, flipping the game and sending the Rogers Centre into chaos.
In an instant, the Mariners’ dream season turned into heartbreak — and Toronto celebrated a return to the World Series for the first time in over three decades.
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