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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in two dozen years.

Pitching Dominance on Display

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 pitches less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 throws to outplay Detroit over 15 frames.

Crucial Batting Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the playoffs before the home run by Raleigh.

Polanco hit a go-ahead single later in the inning and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth inning.

“We are a resilient squad, you know, one through nine,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the other day.”

AL West champion Seattle traveled to Toronto, the AL East champion on the prior day after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

Record Achievements

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six frames, throwing 72 deliveries. The three relievers each had perfect innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

“This is going to be a hard-fought series, for sure,” Toronto manager John Schneider commented. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Derek Jeter of the Yankees, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. Raleigh's home run was his fourth in 15 appearances against Kevin Gausman, who took the loss.

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, hit a single off Brendon Little to bring home Julio Rodríguez, who was walked by the pitcher. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Seranthony Domínguez.

Memorable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez hit a double off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a home run in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, Seattle’s field included.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a pitch off it in the first inning.