The Dodgers were the only club who had to advance through the wild card round, and the reigning World Series champs aren't exactly underdogs. In fact, all of the Brewers, Mariners, and Blue Jays had a lot more questions to answer about their playoff readiness given a recent lack of postseason success, yet all three teams were up to the task in winning their League Championship Series matchups.
Toronto is all fired up about the Blue Jays. On wednesday night, the Blue Jays advanced to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the first time since 2016 after they defeated the New York Yankees 5-2 in Game 4 of the ALDS. The Blue Jays have had an incredible season, winning the AL East, and now, they eliminated a hated rival in the Yankees on their own home turf.
Reminders of the New York Yankees' rich history can be spotted at every turn in and around Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth banners hang outside the venue. Hallways are loaded with framed pictures of pinstriped legends. When Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider entered the stadium's news conference room Monday on the eve of Game 3, he walked past several 10-foot magazine posters featuring all-time Yankee greats.
Lauer to the Bullpen It's hard to imagine where the Blue Jays would be this season if not for the emergence of Eric Lauer. With Max Scherzer on the shelf for the first half of the season, and with Bowden Francis unable to replicate his 2024 success, the journeyman lefty was called up at the end of April, and immediately provided relief to a beleaguered staff.
The baseball team announced Monday that post-season tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday. The sale includes the maximum number of potential games to be played at Toronto's Rogers Centre during the first two rounds of the post-season American League Wild Card Series beginning Sept. 30 and Division Series beginning Oct. 4.