1992 American League Championship Series

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics

Toronto won the series, 4–2.

Game 1

Wednesday, October 7, 1992, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

The first game of the series had Oakland's Dave Stewart face off against Toronto's Jack Morris. The Athletics put up a three-spot against Morris in the second inning, as Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach hit back-to-back home runs. Stewart held the Blue Jays scoreless until the fifth, when catcher Pat Borders homered to put Toronto on the board. Dave Winfield added another shot for Toronto in the sixth, and in the eighth a base hit by John Olerud scored Winfield to tie the game.

However, Oakland took the lead right back in the top of the ninth, when Harold Baines led off the inning with a home run. Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley then shut down the Blue Jays in the bottom half of the inning to preserve a 4–3 victory and give the Athletics a 1–0 lead in the series.

Game 2

Thursday, October 8, 1992, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

Game 2 saw Oakland's Mike Moore face the Blue Jays' David Cone. The game was initially a pitchers' duel, as Moore and Cone put up zeroes for the first four innings. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Toronto's Kelly Gruber hit a two-run home run off Moore to give the Blue Jays the lead. In the seventh, Gruber doubled, took third on a grounder, and came home on a Manuel Lee sacrifice fly to extend the Toronto lead to three. The Athletics avoided a shutout in the top of the ninth, when Rubén Sierra tripled and scored on a single by Baines, but that was all they could muster against Toronto closer Tom Henke. The Blue Jays took the second game and tied the series at a game apiece.

Game 3

Saturday, October 10, 1992, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

The series shifted to Oakland for Game 3, as Juan Guzmán took the hill for the Blue Jays while Ron Darling toed the rubber for the Athletics. Toronto struck in the second, when Winfield reached on an error by Athletics' third baseman Carney Lansford, moved to third on a wild pitch by Darling, and scored on a single by Candy Maldonado. Roberto Alomar hit an opposite-field home run in the fourth to give the Blue Jays a 2–0 lead, but in the bottom half of the inning the Athletics tied the game with RBI base hits by Baines and Steinbach.

However, the very next inning, Maldonado hit a homer, and after Oakland manager Tony La Russa gave Darling the hook in the seventh, the Blue Jays added two unearned runs due to an error by Lance Blankenship and a triple by Lee, making it a 5–2 game. Although the Athletics cut Toronto's lead down to a run, the Blue Jays tacked on single runs in the eighth and ninth. Henke retired the Athletics in order in the ninth, giving Toronto a 7–5 victory and a 2–1 edge in the series.

Game 4

Sunday, October 11, 1992, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

For the fourth game, Toronto threw Morris against Oakland's Bob Welch. In the second inning, Olerud tagged Welch for an opposite-field solo homer to give the Blue Jays the lead. However, the Athletics came back in a big way with a five-run third and tacked on another run in the sixth when Sierra doubled Rickey Henderson home, giving Oakland a seemingly secure 6–1 advantage. In the top of the eighth, however, La Russa pulled Welch, who had been cruising along, and went to his bullpen. The Blue Jays capitalized by scoring three runs off hits by Joe Carter, Olerud, and Maldonado, cutting the Athletics' lead to 6–4. After the Blue Jays had scored one run and had two men on base, La Russa sent in his closer, Dennis Eckersley, in hopes of preventing a huge rally by Toronto.

In the top of the ninth, La Russa sent Eckersley back in to shut down the Blue Jays. Eckersley had given up two of Toronto's three runs in the previous inning, but La Russa decided to stay with his best closer. Devon White led off with a triple to left. Roberto Alomar hit a high line drive to right field that disappeared behind the wall for a game-tying two-run home run. This turned out to be a crucial point of the series, as it forced the game into extra innings and gave the Blue Jays a chance to win.

Indeed, in the top of the 11th, Toronto came through. Derek Bell walked, moved to third on a Maldonado single, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Borders to give the Blue Jays a 7–6 lead. Henke shut the door on the Athletics in the bottom of the inning, handing Toronto a 3–1 series lead.

Game 5

Monday, October 12, 1992, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

Game 5 pitted Toronto's Cone against Oakland's Stewart. In the bottom of the first, Sierra cracked a two-run home run off Cone. In the third inning an error by Cone on a pickoff attempt proved costly, as Henderson advanced to 3rd and then scored on a single by Jerry Browne. Although Winfield broke the shutout with a homer off Stewart in the fourth, the unearned runs continued to hurt the Blue Jays, as the Athletics added three runs in the fifth (only one of which was earned) for a 6–1 lead. Toronto managed only one more run in the seventh when White singled Gruber home, and Stewart went the distance as the Athletics took a 6–2 victory and cut the Blue Jays' advantage in the series to 3–2. This would be the last Major League Baseball playoff game to be played at the Oakland Coliseum with the old, classic open air view of the Oakland foothills, prior to the installment of Mount Davis in 1996.

Game 6

Wednesday, October 14, 1992, at SkyDome in Toronto

The series came back to Toronto for Game 6, with Guzmán going against Moore. In the bottom of the first, the Blue Jays took a lead they would never relinquish, as White reached on an error by Henderson and scored on a homer by Carter, making it 2–0. In the third, Olerud lashed an RBI double and Maldonado followed with a three-run shot, extending the advantage to 6–0. McGwire put Oakland on the board in the sixth with a single that scored Sierra, but the Athletics could only manage another run against the Blue Jays. In the ninth, Henke took the mound and induced a flyout from Sierra to end a 9–2 win, making Toronto the first non-U.S.-based team to win a pennant in Major League history.