Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they returned to the ALCS for the first time in two dozen years.
Defensive Mastery on Show
George Springer launched a homer on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for Toronto’s sole additional hit, and Mariners 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 less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 frames.
Key Offensive Moments
Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth home run in 14 games at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the playoffs before the homer by Raleigh.
Polanco delivered a go-ahead base hit later in the inning and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth inning.
“We’re a tough team, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. 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 Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to claim the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.
Historic Achievements
The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits along with 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 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 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 Yankees’ Derek Jeter, moving him into sole possession of fifth place 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, singled against Brendon Little to bring home Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.
Memorable Contest Highlights
Eugenio Suárez doubled against the top of the right-field fence in the seventh against Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a homer in half of MLB stadiums, including Seattle.
Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.
