Cal Raleigh Homers as Seattle Mariners Overpower Toronto Blue Jays in Long-Awaited Return to ALCS

Cal Raleigh blasted a home run, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they returned to the AL Championship Series for the first time in two dozen years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-pitch first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. The pitching quartet joined forces to throw just 100 pitches under two days after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Offensive Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the score in the sixth inning with his ninth homer in 14 games at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the playoffs before the home run by Raleigh.

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

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder journeyed to Toronto, the AL East champion on the prior day after a 3-2 home victory over the Tigers to claim 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 World Series game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits along with 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, fanned three and issued three walks in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The three relievers each had perfect innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

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

Springer’s 21st postseason home run ended 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 at-bats against Kevin Gausman, who took the loss.

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, singled against Brendon Little to drive in Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

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

Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.