“It’s pretty frickin’ cool that we are where we are,” Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said late on Sunday night.
His team had just beaten the Seattle Mariners 6-2 at the Rogers Centre in a must-win contest to force Game 7 and put them one victory away from a first World Series appearance since the 1990s.
The final game of the series is scheduled to take place just after 8 p.m. Monday night in front of what will be an excited home crowd, anticipating a rare final appearance for a Toronto team.
Early on Monday morning, Ticketmaster was already showing increasing prices for the matchup. Resale 500-level seats were retailing at around $350 and above, with the handful of seats available behind home plate well into the thousands.
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Despite the price, Torontonians flocked to the Rogers Centre last night and are expected to the same on Monday evening.
Sunday night’s home crowd was rowdy throughout the game as the Toronto Blue Jays shrugged off the concerns that swirled around them early in the American League Championship Series to deliver a non-negotiable win.
After two victories out of three games in Seattle, Toronto had to win on Sunday night to force a winner-takes-all event on Monday night.
“This was the most electric, energized crowd I’ve ever played in front of before and the team rallied behind the fans,” pitcher Trey Yesavage said of the 44,764-person sold-out crowd on Sunday night.
“They were a huge motivation for us.”
Fans heading into Sunday’s game had told Global News they were excited, but confident. “It’s either going to be the best game of the season or the last game of the season,” one said.
Monday’s game is expected to be even rowdier and more highly anticipated, with potential progress on the line and not only avoiding elimination.
Toronto hasn’t made it to the World Series since the 1990s. The Jays’ only pennants came in 1992 and ’93, when the club won consecutive World Series crowns. A season ago, the Blue Jays finished last in the AL East at 74-88.
If they win on Monday, it would be the furthest a major sports team in the city has been since the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship in 2019.
The winner of Monday night’s game between Toronto and Seattle will face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
— with files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
