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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they made their return to the ALCS for the first time in two dozen years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a bases-threatening situation in a 27-pitch first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second inning for Toronto’s only other hit, and Seattle pitchers set down 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. The pitching quartet combined to throw just 100 deliveries under two days after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outplay Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Batting Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth inning 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 homer by Raleigh.

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

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, one through nine,” Raleigh stated. “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 AL East winner Toronto on Saturday after a 3-2 home victory over the Tigers to claim the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

Historic Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, fanned three and issued three walks in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The three relievers each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested series, for sure,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Derek Jeter of the Yankees, placing him alone in fifth position on the career list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 appearances 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 walked by Gausman. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

Eugenio Suárez hit a double off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against 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 sustained a right knee bruise when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.