Three nights after one of the most ebullient wins in Seattle Mariners history, they suffered one of the toughest losses of their 49 MLB seasons.
Heartbreak: Seattle Mariners sunk by Blue Jays in ALCS Game 7
A three-run George Springer home run turned a two-run Mariners lead in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series into a 4-3 Toronto advantage that the Blue Jays would hold to move onto the World Series.
The Mariners came back to win Game 5 after a go-ahead grand slam by Eugenio Suárez on Friday night, and they were just eight outs away from clinching their first World Series appearance ever before Springer’s homer. But now, the next date on their calendar is spring training four months away.
Following Monday’s Game 7 loss, members of the Mariners spoke to the media at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Here are few things a pair of 2025 Mariners All-Stars and their manager said.
Cal Raleigh, catcher
On coming up one win short of reaching the World Series: “I hate to use the word failure, but it’s a failure. What we expected was to get to the World Series and win a World Series. That’s what the bar is and the standard is and that’s what we want to hold ourselves accountable to.”
Bryan Woo, pitcher
His feelings after losing in the ALCS: “I don’t really think you can put a word on it. Frustration. Sad for all the guys. Being together with a group for as long as we are and everyone working towards one goal, for it to end like this, it’s heartbreaking to say the least.”
On returning from injury to pitch twice in the series: “I’m glad, obviously, (that) I was able to come back. I wish I was able to play a bigger role and help the team more than I did, but it’s sports, it’s not always a happy ending. You do what you can to make a positive impact in any way you can, but it is what it is, you gotta live with it.”
Dan Wilson, manager
On falling short in the ALCS: “I think all of us now have had a taste of how close we can get and how good this team can be. So I think once you get that, that’s what you’re shooting for again the next year, and I know that will continue to be the goal. That was the goal this year. It will continue to be the goal, is to get to that final step and, you know, this year we were one game short.”
His message to the players after the game: “Just to hold up their heads and to understand what kind of a season they had. I mean, I know this stings and there’s no question that it’s going to sting, but the kind of season they had, doing things that no team in this organization has ever done, and knocking on the door of a World Series, all that, you know, it’s due to how hard they’ve worked, how hard they’ve played all season long, all the times they have come back, all the times they have bounced back. It’s a special team in there. It’s a shame that we had to come out on the wrong side of this one.”
More from Seattle Mariners’ ALCS loss
• Mariners’ Dan Wilson backs Game 7 bullpen decision
• Stacy Rost: What to point to from Mariners’ Game 7 defeat
• Heartbreak: Seattle Mariners sunk by Blue Jays in ALCS Game 7
• Called It: Polanco predicts Julio’s HR in ALCS Game 7
• Seattle Mariners’ Josh Naylor at center of unusual play in Game 7
