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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning single, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they made their return to the ALCS for the first time 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 first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Mariners pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. The pitching quartet combined to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay Detroit over 15 innings.

Crucial Batting Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the playoffs before the homer by Raleigh.

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

“We’re a tough team, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Especially short rest and the high pitch count 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 claim the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

Record Achievements

Seattle, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Toronto squad 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 perfect innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Our team will be prepared 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 home run was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, hit a single off Brendon Little to bring home Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.

Notable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a homer in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.

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