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

Defensive Mastery on Display

George Springer homered on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-pitch opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for the Blue Jays' sole additional hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 deliveries under two days after the Mariners needed 209 throws to outlast Detroit over 15 innings.

Key Offensive Moments

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 games at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the postseason before the home run by Raleigh.

Polanco delivered a go-ahead base hit subsequently in the frame and added an RBI single in the eighth inning.

“We’re a tough team, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

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

Historic Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the New York Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six frames, throwing 72 pitches. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

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

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, placing him alone in fifth position on the all-time list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Gausman, who took the loss.

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

Memorable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Louis Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a home run in half of MLB stadiums, including Seattle.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the opening frame.