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Revisiting the last time the Blue Jays played the Mariners in the playoffs
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Photo credit: © Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Oct 12, 2025, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 12, 2025, 00:12 EDT
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The upcoming matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners isn’t the first time the two teams have met in the postseason.
It was back in 1977 that the two teams entered the league together. The Mariners spent many years floundering, missing the postseason in their first 18 seasons. On the other hand, the Jays made some postseason appearances in the 1980s, before winning to World Series in 1992 and 1993.
Two years after the Jays’ second World Series victory, the Mariners made the postseason for the first time and made the playoffs in four of the next seven years. In 2001, the Mariners posted a 116-46 record, the best record in MLB history, but joined the Blue Jays on a lengthy postseason drought.
The Jays broke their postseason drought in 2015, making the American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016. They then entered a rebuild, followed by a postseason appearance in 2020 thanks to the pandemic-impacted season. If we don’t count that season, the Jays made their return to a postseason in a normal season in 2022, the same year the Mariners broke their streak.
That series didn’t go well for the Blue Jays. With Alek Manoah on the mound, he hit Julio Rodríguez with the fourth pitch of the at-bat. Ty France grounded out, but Eugenio Suárez hit a double to drive in a run. Up stepped Cal Raleigh, who hit a two-run shot to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead.
It was enough for the win as Luis Castillo silenced the Jays’ bats, but the Mariners added a fourth run in the top of the fifth in a 4-0 victory. With their backs against the wall in Game 2, it looked as if the Jays would force a winner-take-all.
Teoscar Herández hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second, and after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in Santiago Espinal, Hernández hit his second home run of the game. The Mariners scored a run in the top of the fifth, but the Blue Jays responded with a four-run inning in the bottom half of the fifth.
It was a win, right? Nope. Kevin Gausman allowed the first three Mariners to reach on singles in the top of the sixth. After getting two outs, he was pulled for Tim Mayza, who promptly threw a wild pitch and then allowed a three-run shot to Carlos Santana.
The Jays added a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mariners threatened with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the ninth. Jordan Romano replaced Anthony Bass, and Adam Frazier hit an RBI single. The next two batters struck out before J.P. Crawford hit a double to tie the game.
On that double, George Springer and Bo Bichette collided, with Springer being carted off the field. The Mariners took the lead in the top of the ninth, and the Jays couldn’t tie it in the bottom of the ninth.
With the win, the Mariners returned home to host their first playoff game in over two decades. In Houston, the Mariners were walked off in Game 1 by the Astros, then dropped Game 2 by a score of 4-2 as they gave up three unanswered runs. In their return to Seattle, the Mariners played a game reminiscent of their game on Friday, losing 1-0 after 18 innings to be eliminated.
They just missed the postseason the following year, before finishing first in the American League West division. The good news is that the Blue Jays will have a chance to avenge their elimination at the hands of the Mariners, with Game 1 starting on Sunday.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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