Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman fields the ball during workouts for the American League Championship Series at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
Kevin Gausman will take the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
“We have really loved playing at home, especially the last two months,” said Gausman before the team’s Saturday evening workout in preparation for the best-of-seven series opener. “We feel the love when we play here.”
Gausman was also on the hill to open Toronto’s ALDS series too - a 10-1 victory last week over the Yankees. He pitched 5 2/3 innings in that game, allowing four hits and one run while striking out three.
The right-hander started against Seattle once during the regular season, May 10 on the road. He gave up seven hits and three earned runs in that game, while striking out three in a 6-3 Toronto win.
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Jays manager John Schneider pointed to the veteran presence Gausman showed in the ALDS, navigating things in the moment – like he did in Game 1 when going against a super star like New York’s Aaron Judge.
“Kev has just been so consistent since he’s been here, and he’s been in big games here,” said Schneider.
“When you have a guy with good stuff and you have a guy that can process what’s going on in real time, you feel really good about his decision-making in those spots.”
If you ask Gausman when he suspected this team could be special, he points to the off-season, and spring training.
“Definitely the conversations that we had in our offseason kind of looking at, looking inward at what we needed to change,” said Gausman. “But honestly, the biggest thing was probably spring training. I just remember looking back first week and a half, watching Max Scherzer throw 75 pitch bullpen on day two. I was pretty fired up, looking at our team and, what we could be.”
Schneider said Saturday before the team’s workout that Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber will likely line up for Games 2 and 3, but stressed that’s not official yet.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage steps off the mound during a game against New York Yankees on Oct. 5, 2025.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The ALCS rosters are due on Sunday morning, and while Schneider didn’t reveal much, he did say that pitchers Scherzer and Chris Bassitt are “both feeling good and are definitely ready and available.”
Both were left off the 26-man ALDS roster, which was a best-of-five series. The manager acknowledged the team could need some more length from the pitching staff for the ALCS, a best-of-seven series.
“Different format, obviously, seven games, three in a row, all that kind of stuff,” said Schneider of Bassitt and Scherzer. “Yeah, could definitely see them being part of it.”
It remains up in the air whether star shortshop Bo Bichette will be on that roster, as he’s missed more than a month with an injured knee, including the ALDS. Schneider said he would be running on the bases Saturday, a day after he did some running in the outfield. The team wanted to see how he felt after the latest workout.
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The Jays had been awaiting their opponent since they eliminated the New York Yankees in Game 4 of their American League Division Series in the Bronx on Wednesday.
Seattle earned the other ALCS berth late Friday night, by outdueling the Detroit Tigers in a dramatic 15-inning marathon. The Mariners had to then make the long trip to Toronto on Saturday.
The Mariners announced Saturday afternoon that Bryce Miller will be their Game 1 starter. It’s a tight turnaround for the right-hander, who last pitched in Game 4 of the ALDS on Wednesday. He allowed four hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings while tallying two strikeouts.
Miller pitched against the Blue Jays on May 11, when he scattered eight hits and allowed seven runs over five innings.
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Toronto will also host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Monday, before the series swings to T-Mobile Park in Seattle for Games 3, 4 and 5. Rogers Centre would get Games 6 and 7, if needed.
Seattle’s stadium is one of the most popular MLB ballparks for Blue Jays’ fans to visit, given the proximity from the Canadian border. The players take notice of those traveling Jays fans.
“I’ve been seeing things like ‘the Blue Jays might have seven home games this series’, which would be cool,” said Jays outfielder Myles Straw. “It’s going to be cool to see all the Blue Jays fans come down from over there, and obviously our place is going to be rocking as always.”