Springer and Guerrero deliver for Toronto in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series

SEATTLE (AP) — It was a productive night for George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Two of Toronto's biggest stars led the way for the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series on Wednesday.

Springer and Guerrero each hit a solo shot as Toronto finished with five homers overall. Springer had three hits, and Guerrero went 4 for 4 and scored three times in a 13-4 victory over the Mariners.

“It feels great obviously, but for me, it’s just about winning,” Guerrero said through a translator. “I’m very happy we won the game. I never think about myself.”

The Blue Jays dropped the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Toronto, ramping up the pressure on the AL East champions for Game 3. Springer went 2 for 8 with a solo homer in the first two games, and Guerrero was 0 for 7 with a walk.

But the two sluggers played a major role in a fast start for Toronto in Seattle.

Springer hit a two-out solo homer off George Kirby in the fourth, driving a 94.8 mph sinker deep to center. The 431-foot shot was Springer's 22nd postseason homer, moving him into a tie with Bernie Williams for fourth on the career list.

The four-time All-Star has three homers this postseason. He also connected on Bryce Miller's first pitch of Game 1.

“I think as a team, it was a good overall game,” Springer said. “It’s on to the next.”

Guerrero led off the fifth with a 406-foot drive off Kirby that went just over the glove of a leaping Julio Rodríguez at the wall in center.

The five-time All-Star reached on an infield single in the first. He doubled and scored on Daulton Varsho's two-run double in Toronto's five-run third.

Guerrero was a triple away from a postseason cycle when he batted in the eighth with Toronto holding a 12-2 lead. He hit a liner into the gap in right-center that rolled all the way to the wall, but third base coach Carlos Febles signaled for Guerrero to stay at second.

Guerrero, who agreed to a $500 million, 14-year contract in April, responded with a friendly holler in the direction of Febles and the Toronto dugout.

“I was kind of asking him if he thought I was going to make it to third,” Guerrero said. “He told me no.”

Guerrero and Springer both scored on Alejandro Kirk's three-run homer in Toronto's four-run sixth.

The 26-year-old Guerrero was terrific in Toronto's AL Division Series win against the New York Yankees, batting .529 (9 for 17) with three homers and nine RBIs in four games.

“Every day I go out there and give all I have for my team, for my teammates, and thank God everything came out good today, and I did good,” Guerrero said.

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Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during fifth inning Game 3 American League Championship Series baseball action in Seattle on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, celebrates with Andres Gimenez (0) after hitting a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during fifth inning Game 3 American League Championship Series baseball action in Seattle on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates his solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during the fifth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Championship Series, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer (4) celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during fourth inning Game 3 American League Championship Series baseball action in Seattle on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer (4) celebrates with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) after hitting a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners during fourth inning Game 3 American League Championship Series baseball action in Seattle on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s rial slid further Monday to a new record low of more than 1.3 million to the U.S. dollar, deepening the currency’s collapse less than two weeks after it first breached the 1.2-million mark amid sanctions pressure and regional tensions.

Currency traders in Tehran quoted the dollar above 1.3 million rials, underscoring the speed of the decline since Dec. 3, when the rial hit what was then a historic low.

The rapid depreciation is compounding inflationary pressures, pushing up prices for food and other daily necessities and further straining household budgets, a trend that could be intensified by a gasoline price change introduced in recent days.

Iran on Saturday added a third gasoline price tier, raising the cost of full bought beyond monthly quotes at 50,000 rials (4 U.S. cents). It is the first major adjustment to fuel pricing since a price hike in 2019 that sparked nationwide protests and a crackdown that reportedly killed over 300 people.

Under the revised system, motorists continue to receive 60 liters a month at the subsidized rate of 15,000 rials per liter and another 100 liters at 30,000 rials, but any additional purchases now cost more than three times the original subsidized price. While gasoline in Iran remains among the cheapest in the world, economists warn the change could feed inflation at a time when the rapidly weakening rial is already pushing up the cost of food and other basic goods.

The fall comes as efforts to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program appear stalled, while uncertainty persists over the risk of renewed conflict following June’s 12-day war involving Iran and Israel. Many Iranians also fear the possibility of a broader confrontation that could draw in the United States, adding to market anxiety.

Iran’s economy has been battered for years by international sanctions, particularly after Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. At the time the 2015 accord was implemented — which sharply curtailed Iran’s uranium enrichment and stockpiles in exchange for sanctions relief — the rial traded at about 32,000 to the dollar.

After Trump returned to the White House for a second term in January, his administration revived a “maximum pressure” campaign, expanding sanctions that target Iran’s financial sector and energy exports. Washington has again pursued firms involved in trading Iranian crude oil, including discounted sales to buyers in China, according to U.S. statements.

Further pressure followed in late September, when the United Nations reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran through what diplomats described as the “snapback” mechanism. Those measures once again froze Iranian assets abroad, halted arms transactions with Tehran and imposed penalties tied to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Economists warn that the rial’s accelerating decline risks feeding a vicious cycle of higher prices and reduced purchasing power, particularly for staples such as meat and rice that are central to Iranian diets. For many Iranians, the latest record low reinforces concerns that relief remains distant as diplomacy falters and sanctions tighten.

A man fills his car at a gas station in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)