Blue Jays, Mariners jostling for World Series berth in high-stakes ALCS Game 7

The Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners will battle for a World Series berth in Toronto's Rogers Centre, in a high-stakes Game 7 of the American League Series Championship (ALCS) on Monday night.

Toronto clawed its way back from an 0-2 deficit in the first two games of the best-of-seven ALCS, eventually tying the series and forcing Game 7 tonight.

The do-or-die game gets underway just after 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Toronto getting a chance to clinch a series victory and path to the World Series — and all in front of a home crowd — is "everything that we play for and everything that our fans deserve."

Starting pitcher Shane Bieber, who won a prior ALCS start for Toronto in Game 3, gets the ball for the Blue Jays.

Bieber is a Cy Young Award winner who Toronto traded for in July with an eye to having him pitch in big games like tonight's Game 7.

The Mariners will turn to George Kirby, the Seattle starter who Toronto hammered for eight earned runs in that same Game 3 that the Blue Jays won by an eventual score of 13-4.

Mariners manager Dan Wilson said his team has "an incredible opportunity" in Game 7, and expressed confidence in his team's ability to perform under the "undeniable" pressure of the potentially season-ending ball game.

"We've been in situations, you know, particularly down the stretch in September, where you kind of had to win — you had to win that night," he said Monday afternoon.

"I think these guys have developed a good strategy with how to deal with that and that's all part of embracing what's ahead of us."

Toronto slugger George Springer says he and his teammates are hungry for the challenge of taking on the Mariners.

"This is what you play for as a player. This is