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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the go-ahead run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in 24 years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for Toronto’s only other hit, and Mariners pitchers retired 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. The pitching quartet combined to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 throws to outplay Detroit over 15 innings.

Crucial Offensive Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth homer in 14 games at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the postseason before the home run by the catcher.

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

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They did awesome. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to AL East winner Toronto on the prior day after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

Historic Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested series, for sure,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run ended a tie with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the career list. Raleigh’s homer 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 drive in Rodríguez, who was walked by Gausman. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Seranthony Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

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

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.