TORONTO — Eight outs from their first World Series, the Seattle Mariners let it slip away.

Their 49th season may have been the most heartbreaking.

Eduard Bazardo gave up George Springer’s three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Mariners lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

“I hate to use the word failure, but it’s a failure,” Seattle star Cal Raleigh said. “What we expected was to get to the World Series and win a World Series. That’s what the bar is and the standard is and that’s what we want to hold ourselves accountable to.”

After winning their first AL West title since 2001, the Mariners had high hopes in October. But those World Series aspirations remained unfulfilled.

“Obviously, it hurts,” center fielder Julio Rodríguez

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