Cal Raleigh blasted a home run, Jorge Polanco delivered the decisive run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners overcame the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they returned to the ALCS for the initial occasion in 24 years.
Pitching Mastery on Show
George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Seattle pitchers set down 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 pitches less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 frames.
Crucial Batting Moments
Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the playoffs before the homer by Raleigh.
Polanco hit a go-ahead single later in the inning and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth.
“We’re a tough team, as you know, one through nine,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”
AL West champion Seattle traveled to AL East winner Toronto on the prior day after a 3-2 home victory over the Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in Major League Baseball history.
Historic Achievements
Seattle, the only MLB team to not have hosted a World Series game, held Toronto to 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, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 pitches. The three relievers each had perfect innings, with Muñoz getting the save.
“This will be a fiercely contested series, man,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Our team will be prepared for it.”
Springer's 21st playoff homer ended 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 Kevin Gausman, who took the loss.
Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.
Memorable Contest Highlights
Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh against Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a home run in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.
Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.
