Fans cheer with a standing ovation for Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) after he was pulled from the mound during sixth inning MLB American League Division Series baseball action against the New York Yankees, in Toronto, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

By The Canadian Press

Fans celebrate in Toronto as Blue Jays top Yankees to reach first ALCS since 2016

Oct 8, 2025 | 10:30 PM

TORONTO — Toronto fans erupted in jubilation Wednesday night after watching the Blue Jays advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016.

The Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees 5-2 at Yankee Stadium in Game 4 to seal the best-of-five AL Division Series.

With the Jays holding just a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single to break the game open before Myles Straw batted in Toronto’s final run in the eighth.

Fans filled the streets downtown, and many Toronto Maple Leafs fans also made their way to the nearest sports bar they could find to watch the Blue Jays close out the win.

The Leafs played the end of the Blue Jays game on the Scotiabank Arena big screen well after the buzzer sounded on their 5-2 season-opening win over the Montreal Canadiens.

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“Very exciting, got a long road ahead of us,” Jake Eppel said outside Scotiabank Arena. “I was just at the Leafs game, I left with five minutes left, went to Real Sports, watched the most important Toronto team going on right now.

“I think we did well with our pitching, (manager John) Schneider played the bullpen, he played it well. And you know what, I’ll say it: Yankees and Montreal, worst two fan bases, we don’t like them. It’s like Ottawa, we don’t like them. Go Blue Jays.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney also congratulated the Blue Jays on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“On to the next. Congratulations @BlueJays, making us proud,” he wrote.

In 2016, the Blue Jays ousted Baltimore in a single-elimination wild-card game before sweeping Texas in the best-of-three ALDS. Toronto then fell 4-1 to Cleveland in the best-of-seven ALCS.

This time around, they’ll play the winner of the other ALDS series between Detroit and Seattle.

Detroit evened that series at 2-2 with a 9-3 win earlier Wednesday. The decisive Game 5 is scheduled for Friday in Seattle.

The ALCS is set to start Sunday in Toronto, with tickets going on sale Thursday.

It was the first time the Blue Jays ever matched up against the AL East rival Yankees in the playoffs.

Toronto went 8-5 against New York during the regular season, winning the division on a tiebreaker after taking the season series. Entering Wednesday’s game, however, the Blue Jays were 2-5 at Yankee Stadium, including Tuesday night’s 9-6 loss.

“No doubt,” Charles Nguyen said of whether he thought Toronto would win Wednesday. “Knowing the Jays, got two (wins) at home. Yesterday was a surprise with the Yankees coming back but we got the win, so I’m super excited. Let’s go Jays. Jays to the World Series.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2025.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press