October 8, 1985: Toronto Blue Jays play their first postseason game

October 8, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Forty years ago today, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first postseason game.

They defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-1 in front of 39,115 fans at Exhibition Stadium.

It was also the first American League Championship Series (ALCS) game contested outside of the U.S.

After registering a franchise record 99 regular season wins and capturing their first American League East title, the up-and-coming Blue Jays faced the Royals, who had been postseason regulars.

The ALCS opener was promoted as a pitcher’s duel between Blue Jays ace Dave Stieb, who had led the American League with a 2.48 ERA and Royals lefty Charlie Leibrandt, whose 2.69 ERA was the AL’s second-best.

Stieb lived up to his end of the bargain, allowing just three hits, while striking out eight batters, in eight scoreless innings.

“Man, he was awesome, ” Blue Jays second baseman Damaso Garcia told The Globe and Mail after the game. “The Dave Stieb you saw tonight was the real Dave Stieb.”

Meanwhile, Leibrandt, who had recorded a 1.72 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays during the regular season, was lit up for five runs on seven hits in two innings. It was his shortest start with the Royals.

In total, the Blue Jays had 11 hits, none of which left the park.

They opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Ernie Whitt singled home Willie Upshaw for the first run. Tony Fernandez followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 2-0.

After Stieb retired the Royals in order in the top of the third, DH Cliff Johnson doubled to lead off the bottom of the frame. Barfield then walked and Upshaw singled to load the bases.

Royals manager Dick Howser had seen enough from Leibrandt and replaced him with right-hander Steve Farr, who was greeted with a pinch-hit RBI single from Rance Mulliniks. Whitt then drew a bases loaded walk to score Barfield and Fernandez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Upshaw to put the Jays up 5-0.

George Bell singled and scored the Blue Jays’ sixth run in the fourth.

On the mound, Stieb was cruising, at one point retiring 12 batters in a row.

“I was throwing a little harder than normal and I anticipated that,” Stieb told the Globe and Mail after the game. “The fastball was really moving, the slider was breaking big. The curveball, I was throwing to some good spots when I did throw it. And my changeup, I threw it for strikes tonight, which is something I hadn’t been doing in the past.”

Whitt, Stieb’s battery mate, offered a similar assesment.

“The key was that Dave was throwing strikes tonight,” Whitt told the Toronto Star. “He was coming right after hitters, and we managed to keep their first two men (in the batting order off base). That way we could stop George Brett from driving in runs. You can’t stop him from hitting.”

That was true.

Brett had two of the three hits off Stieb and three, in total, on the night.

The Royals’ only run came off closer Tom Henke in the ninth when Willie Wilson and Brett singled to start the inning and Wilson scored on a Pat Sheridan ground ball to first base.

The win gave the Blue Jays their first postseason win and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS.

“If it was a five-game series, I’d put a lot of importance on winning the first game,” Blue Jays manager Bobby Cox told the Toronto Star. “But it doesn’t mean as much in a seven-game series. It’s still nice, though.”