Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews paid homage to the undisputed king of Toronto sports right now: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Ahead of Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays superstar slugger arrived at Rogers Centre wearing a Matthews jersey. While there were some terrified about Guerrero’s choice of apparel given the Leafs’ recent history of Game 7s, it ended up working out as the Jays defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3 to punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

Matthews returned the favour on Tuesday ahead of the Leafs’ clash against the New Jersey Devils by rocking a Guerrero Jr. jersey of his own.

The Leafs and Jays have been crossing paths quite a bit throughout the latter’s postseason run up to this point. Many Leafs were notably in attendance for Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, with photos of them celebrating going viral on social media. Matthews said after practice on Monday that he, along with the rest of the team, was going to watch Game 7, and he was pumped for their accomplishment by sharing a post of the Jays celebrating the win on his Instagram story on Tuesday morning.

Forward Steven Lorentz told reporters after the morning skate that Matthews was buzzing about seeing Guerrero Jr. show his support.

“We were talking about it this morning, it was cool to see Vladdy walk in with Auston Matthews’ jersey on,” Lorentz said. “It just shows how tight knit the city is, and how close, not just the fans in the whole city, but the whole country are. Canada only has one MLB team so it’s pretty special to see the amount of support the Jays have received and you know, we’re happy for them but like I said, the job’s not done.”

Beyond the Leafs being in the building for Game 2 of the ALDS, there have been multiple home games where fans got extra loud when they got word of how the Blue Jays were doing. This includes the home opener where fans erupted in “Let’s Go Blue Jays” chants after they took a 4-1 lead in Game 4 of the ALDS, and on Thursday when Scotiabank Arena came alive when Andres Gimenez’s two-run home run gave the Blue Jays the lead in Game 4 of the ALCS.

The Leafs also adjusted the start time of a recent game against the Detroit Red Wings to avoid conflict with Game 2 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, with a few more likely in store for the World Series. They even hosted a few watch parties inside Scotiabank Arena for fans to stick around after the hockey game wrapped up to see the Jays on the scoreboard.

“I think it’s great. I especially liked when they would show the scoreboard and they were winning and the crowd got a good kick out of that,” Matthews said on Thursday. “Obviously, we’re all rooting for them in their series and in their playoffs right now. So it’s been really fun to follow them along.”

There is no denying that Toronto is a baseball town right now, as the Jays prepare to face Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 World Series that begins on Friday. Matthews, like the rest of us, is along for the ride.