Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the decisive 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 ALCS for the initial occasion in 24 years.
Pitching Mastery on Show
George Springer homered on the first pitch from Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-pitch opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second for Toronto’s sole additional hit, and Seattle pitchers set down 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 pitches under two days after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outplay Detroit over 15 frames.
Key Offensive Plays
Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. 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 RBI single in the eighth inning.
“We are a resilient squad, you know, one through nine,” Raleigh stated. “Our pitchers performed today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and how many pitches they threw the other day.”
AL West champion Seattle traveled to Toronto, the AL East champion on Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Detroit Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.
Historic Achievements
Seattle, the only MLB team to not have hosted a World Series 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, fanned three and issued three walks in six frames, throwing 72 deliveries. The three relievers each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz getting the save.
“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider commented. “Our team will be prepared 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 suffered the defeat.
Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, singled against Brendon Little to bring home Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. 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 against Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a homer in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.
Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes sustained a right knee bruise when he fouled a ball into his knee in the opening frame.
