The Toronto Blue Jays are set for a border showdown in the American League Championship Series as they await the winner of the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners.
The Tigers and Mariners meet in Game 5 of their AL Division Series on Friday in Seattle, with the winner heading to Toronto for Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday.
Detroit’s Comerica Park is about a four-hour drive from Toronto and just across the bridge from Windsor, Ont., while Seattle’s T-Mobile Park sits roughly three hours south of Vancouver, home of the Blue Jays’ High-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians.
Toronto has only faced Seattle once in the post-season — in 2022, when the Mariners swept the best-of-three wild-card series at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays won the 2025 season series 4-2, including a three-game sweep in May.
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Seattle boasts plenty of power, led by AL MVP contender Cal Raleigh.
The star catcher led Major League Baseball with 60 home runs and had 125 RBIs in 159 regular-season games. He’s currently batting .438 along with one homer and four RBIs through four playoff games.
Eugenio Suarez, who returned to Seattle from Arizona at the trade deadline, ranked fifth in the majors with 49 homers and finished with 117 RBIs.
The Mariners surged late in the season to overtake Houston and capture their first AL West title since 2001. George Kirby and Luis Castillo anchor Seattle’s rotation, while reliever Andres Munoz finished second in the AL with 38 saves.
The Blue Jays also edged Detroit 4-3 in their season series, with their most recent meeting coming in late July.
However, the two clubs have never met in the playoffs. Their most memorable showdown came in 1987, when the first-place Blue Jays led the Tigers by 3 1/2 games with a week left in the regular season. Toronto lost seven straight, capped by a sweep in Detroit on the final weekend, and finished two games back in the division.
Riley Greene led this year’s Tigers with 36 homers and 111 RBIs, while Detroit also boasts arguably the best pitcher in the American League in Tarik Skubal.
With Friday’s Game 5 on the schedule, Toronto won’t have to face either team’s ace early in the ALCS. Skubal is slated to start for Detroit, while Kirby is expected to get the ball for Seattle.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press