Chasing October: Blue Jays advance to World Series

theScore provides running analysis and insights for Game 7 of the ALCS. Follow along throughout the night as we break down everything as the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays play for the right to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

9th inning: The Blue Jays are going to play in the World Series for the first time since 1993. Closer Jeff Hoffman, who signed with the club in the offseason after failing physicals with two other teams, retired Julio Rodríguez to end the ALCS. Game 1 of the Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers opens Friday at Rogers Centre. We'll have plenty of postgame reaction coming later.

8th inning: What a performance from Chris Bassitt. The 11-year veteran retires the Mariners in order in relief of Kevin Gausman. Bassitt wasn't included on the ALDS roster, and had pitched just once since Sept. 18. The 36-year-old, who has never pitched in a World Series, let out an emotional scream walking to the dugout after recording the final out of the inning. Seattle turns to its best reliever in Andrés Muñoz to try and keep this one within reach.

7th inning: George Springer loves the big moment, and this was one of the biggest swings of a career that's already authored so many. The Blue Jays designated hitter hammers a three-run home run off Eduard Bazardo's second pitch of the 7th inning that has Rogers Centre shaking. It's Springer's 23rd career postseason home run, tying him for third-most in MLB history. It's fair to wonder if Dan Wilson pushed Bryan Woo one inning too far, or if Bazardo - who was working for a ninth time this postseason and a second straight night - was the right call.

7th inning: The Blue Jays are going to Game 5 starter Kevin Gausman with the lineup set to turn over heading into the seventh inning. It's all hands on deck. It's the right-hander's first relief appearance for Toronto.

6th inning: Bryan Woo's thrown up back-to-back zeros. What an unbelievable weapon for Dan Wilson to go to in this situation. The right-hander strikes out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a nasty sweeper to end a nine-pitch battle. It's just the third strikeout - second swinging - for Guerrero this postseason.

5th inning: We're bullpenning now. Bryan Woo is the first arm out for Dan Wilson after George Kirby gives the Mariners four solid innings and allows just one run. Woo was Seattle's best starter during the regular season, and can really shorten Game 7 if he's effective here. Toronto really needs to get the offense going as Andrés Muñoz is looming not too far away.

5th inning: Seattle is hitting home runs again, and that's bad news for the Blue Jays. Cal Raleigh takes Louis Varland deep to extend the lead. It's back-to-back changeups from Varland to start the at-bat. With Raleigh hitting left-handed, the attack plan is clear. The second one just splits the center of the plate and ends up in the seats. It's Raleigh's fourth home run of the ALCS, and he's now homered in every other game this series. Seattle's best players are so far pacing the offense in the biggest game in the franchise's history. The Mariners have squandered a lot of run-scoring opportunities tonight, going 1-for-6 with RISP, but have been bailed out by the long ball.

4th inning: That's it for Shane Bieber as John Schneider goes to his bullpen to prevent his starter from facing Julio Rodríguez for a third time. It's the right call as Bieber just wasn't especially sharp tonight, and sees his outing end by walking the No. 9 hitter Victor Robles. We'll see how Schneider navigates the rest of the game as he summons Louis Varland, who has now worked every contest this series other than Game 3.

3rd inning: George Kirby is starting to settle in. The right-hander's retired six of the last seven batters he's faced. After a 45-pitch first inning, Kirby's needed just 23 pitches combined across the second and third. He flew through the third inning, getting Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk out. A shutdown inning for him is huge after Seattle grabbed the lead. The Mariners' bullpen is quiet.

3rd inning: Julio Rodríguez has shown up tonight. The Mariners outfielder crushes a 423-foot solo home run off Bieber to put Seattle up 2-1. Rodríguez, who also homered off Bieber in Game 3, has two of the three hardest-hit balls (108.6 mph and 107.2 mph) in Game 7. The home-run ball has been Bieber's biggest issue this season, surrendering at least one in eight of his 10 appearances since returning from Tommy John surgery.

The J-Rod dinger came off a Bieber slider - the best pitch in his arsenal. Opposing batters hit .175 off his slider this year and whiffed at it 35.7% of the time. A glance at the numbers and everything about the offering is what you'd expect - 38 inches of vertical break, 85 mph. He's clearly just struggling with location and command on breaking balls.

2nd inning: The Mariners' lineup is deep, but the drop-off in the bottom third is significant. After Randy Arozarena and Eugenio Suárez open the inning with back-to-back singles, J.P. Crawford records an out on a sacrifice bunt that moves the runners over. Leo Rivas strikes out and then Victor Robles grounds out to Shane Bieber to end the threat. Bieber hasn't looked especially sharp, but it's huge to get out of the inning without turning the lineup over once again. At least the Crawford bunt prevented the Mariners from grounding into another double play.

1st inning: George Springer can't really run at 100% after taking a fastball off the knee in Game 5, but he can still work a great plate appearance. Springer leads off with a six-pitch walk and comes around to score the tying run on a Daulton Varsho RBI single. George Kirby doesn't look particularly sharp. He allows two hits and a walk in a 25-pitch first inning. The final out of the inning came off Ernie Clement's bat at 101.6-mph - one of three hard-hit balls he allowed. Kirby's coming off the worst start of his season, so the leash should be especially short.

1st inning: The Mariners open the scoring for the sixth time this series as Dan Wilson's lineup change pays off immediately. Julio Rodríguez hammers a 107-mph leadoff double down the line off Shane Bieber to start the game - his first hit since Game 3 - and scores on a Josh Naylor RBI single. Naylor has been Seattle's best hitter in the ALCS and is 6-for-10 with two home runs over his last four games. Much like in his previous start, Bieber labored through his first inning but was bailed out after Naylor broke up a double play by jumping into the throw. You really do see something new every day in baseball, but if anyone was going to do it, it shouldn't be a shock that it was Naylor.

Pregame: We're 30 minutes from first pitch, and players have begun to take the field to stretch. Depending on how superstitious you are, there could be some good or bad omens for the Blue Jays. Toronto is wearing its white panel hats, which have brought some luck down the stretch. Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived at Rogers Centre wearing a white Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews jersey. The Maple Leafs' history, especially in Game 7s, isn't necessarily one to remember fondly, but maybe Guerrero is looking to exorcise some demons.

Pregame: The Mariners are shaking up their lineup slightly for their first Game 7 in franchise history. Josh Naylor is hitting third, with Jorge Polanco moving into the cleanup spot. Victor Robles will take over in right field for Dominic Canzone.

The Blue Jays are rolling out the same lineup. George Springer remains in the leadoff spot despite dealing with a sore knee.

Starting pitchers: We've got a rematch of Game 3 with Shane Bieber facing off against George Kirby. Bieber picked up the win after striking out eight over six innings, while Kirby got rocked, allowing a season-high eight runs over four innings.

About last night: Let's catch you up. The Blue Jays forced a winner-take-all Game 7 at Rogers Centre by beating the visiting Mariners 6-2 on Sunday, punctuated by a six-out effort from Jeff Hoffman. The righty closer required 35 pitches over the final two innings, and it'll be interesting to see if that has any carryover effect in the finale if he's called upon again. There's no tomorrow for the loser, so both managers are adamant that every pitcher is available. Seattle skipper Dan Wilson has already said starters Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo will be in the 'pen if necessary. Jays manager John Schneider has tabbed staff ace Kevin Gausman and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer as potential options. The only arms we should confidently expect not to make appearances are the Game 6 starters: Logan Gilbert and Trey Yesavage.