"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."
"Only the Yankees have reached the World Series more times than the Dodgers, who are vying for the franchise's 23rd trip to the Fall Classic. Los Angeles is the defending champion aiming for its third ring in six seasons, against three teams with much less of a postseason resume. The Blue Jays are a perfect 2-0 in the club's only two World Series appearances, but they last reached the Series in 1993."
"The ALCS between the Mariners and Blue Jays carries some added historical import since the two teams both joined MLB in 1977. The only previous playoff series between the two expansion cousins took place in 2022, when Seattle swept Toronto in two games in the best-of-three wild card series, and made an epic comeback from an 8-1 run deficit to capture a 10-9 win in Game 2."
The postseason field has narrowed to four division winners: the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Brewers and Mariners. Three clubs received first-round byes; the Dodgers advanced through the wild-card round. Los Angeles seeks the franchise's 23rd trip to the World Series and aims for its third ring in six seasons. The Blue Jays are 2-0 in their only World Series appearances but last reached the Fall Classic in 1993. The Brewers' lone Series appearance came in 1982 when they lost to the Cardinals. The Mariners have never reached a World Series. Seattle and Toronto both joined MLB in 1977 and previously met in the 2022 wild-card series, before Toronto broke out with a dominant ALDS win over the Yankees.
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