ALCS Betting Roundup: George Springer in the Lineup for the Blue Jays for Game 6
Posted on: October 19, 2025, 04:41h.
Last updated on: October 19, 2025, 05:09h.
- Springer back in the lineup at DH for Game 6
- Yesavage starts for Blue Jays, Gilbert for Mariners
- Blue Jays betting favourites at sportsbooks
Lineups are set for tonight’s pivotal Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Blue Jays and the Mariners at the Rogers Centre (8:03 p.m. EST), with Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers waiting for the winner for a showdown in the World Series.
Springer Back After Scary Injury
The big takeaway on the Jays’ side is that George Springer is back in the lineup. That’s a surprise, after Springer took a 96-mph fastball off his kneecap late in Game 5 Friday, and it sure looked as he was being helped off the field that an appearance in Game 6 would be a long shot.
But the Jays just released their lineup for tonight and there he is at DH, at the top of the order. Springer was the Jays’ MVP this past season, and one of the most productive hitters in the American League overall, so this is huge news.
As we wrote Friday, the extreme emotional swings for Canadian sports fans when it comes to their pro sports teams is unlike any other. It’s been dark clouds since Friday’s 6-2 loss in Game 5 in Seattle, giving the Mariners a 3-2 lead in the series. The Mariners can punch their ticket to the World Series with a win in a few hours.
Schneider Criticized for Game 5 Decision
Manager John Schneider has justifiably been taking a beating across the country for his inexplicable decision to bring in reliever Brendon Little in Game 5 in the 8th inning, up 2-1, to face league MVP favourite Cal Raleigh. The Jays had late game closers Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez in the bullpen – for a power-on-power, best-on-best showdown with Raleigh and the heart of the Mariners’ order. As television broadcasters were saying, you go best-on-best in that scenario, and if you lose, at least you lost with your best.
Little had been average at best for two months, and as another TV broadcaster (and former player), Caleb Joseph, put it, Little’s body language coming out of the bullpen displayed a lack of confidence that the Mariners feasted on. They could smell the doubt. Raleigh parked a Little pitch into the left field seats, then Little walked two players, before handing the ball over to Dominguez, who gave up a grand slam to Eugenio Suarez to salt the Mariners’ win.
Ohtani and the Dodgers Awaits the Winner
Blue Jays fans went from the emotional peak of Max Scherzer’s gutsy win in Game 4 to tie the series again to the peak of anxiety, all because of Schneider’s boneheaded decision to stubbornly go with Little. Schneider’s on-the-defensive, swearword-laden post-game news conference didn’t help him. I’ve never seen Joseph, or Joe Siddall, another former player now broadcaster, that angry. Kevin Pillar, another former player, and now a broadcaster, wasn’t happy either with the Little decision.
So, the Jays had tied the series, were up 2-1 with six outs to go, and in one swoop saw the series momentum switch to the Mariners.
Yesavage Looks To Bounce Back
Schneider is a manager of the year candidate for leading the team to 94 wins this season. But Toronto once had a coach of the year with their NBA team, the Raptors, after the 2006-07 season, with Sam Mitchell, who was then fired 17 games into the 2009 season. Those awards don’t mean anything. What Schneider did Friday night was a fireable offence.
Schneider has stuck to his guns the past 24 hours, defending his Little decision. In the pre-game news conference today, Schneider said: “I think you just have to be very prepared, very convicted in a decision, trust the people around you that have helped you get to this point. You make a decision, you move on.
“You know, I’ve lost plenty of sleep over the last couple of years about things that haven’t gone right, and I don’t gain sleep when things do go right, you know what I mean? It’s just you realize this is the position you’re in, and you’re trying to do what’s right by the group.”
Guerrero Jr. on a Tear
So, there’s tonight to see if the situation can swing back in the Jays’ direction to the positive and optimistic, with Game 7 set for tomorrow night in Toronto. An elite home team like the Blue Jays is unlikely to lose three games at home, one would think (the Jays lost Games 1 and 2 at home). Also, Mariners’ starter Logan Gilbert pitches better at home than on the road – 2.24 ERA at home, with a .158 opponent batting average and .512 OPS, compared to 4.74, .261, and .767 on the road.
For the Jays, let’s hope that’s the last we see of Little. If starter Trey Yesavage falters, Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker will go to the bullpen fast. The Mariners chased the rookie off the mound in four innings in Game 2 after beating him up for five runs. Will starter-now-reliever Chris Bassitt finally slot in there?
Jays the Betting Favourites
Plus, the Mariners haven’t been able to contain Vladimir Guererro Jr., who’s having a monster post-season – .457 batting average, .524 on-base percentage, .971 slugging percentage, with 5 HRs, including going 7-for-11 with five extra base hits over those three games in Seattle.
A quick scan of the sportsbooks a few hours before first pitch:
Moneyline at ESPN Bet is Blue Jays -130, Mariners +100, Jays’ spread -1.5 (+165), Mariners +1.5 (-200) and the O/U 7.5. At BetRivers it’s Mariners +107, Jays -125 on the ML, Mariners +1.5 (-230), Jays -1.5 (+175) on the spread, and the O/U 7.5.
Most bet player markets at DraftKings are Raleigh 1+ Home Runs, Guerrero Jr. 1+ Hits, Guererro Jr. 2+ Total Bases, Raleigh 1+ RBIs, Yesavage 6+ Strikeouts.
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